Disenfrancised
Beep Beep
Update 1704: By flash and thunder
Non Military
The Affalon settlers travel further round the coast of Nova Hibernia and even plant small outposts on the far side of the Bay of Fundy [1], though the regions strange tides are proving something of a hindrance to navigation.
The High Priest of Acolhua has expended great efforts to restore Michoacan’s bronze industry and sea trade, but this is hampered somewhat by his insistence on spreading the religion of the Lifegiver which is…reducing the population somewhat.
The rumours of great “Floating islands” in the south intrigues the Sapa-Inca and he even makes a visit south to investigate the stories. However no more vessels have appeared this year, and the Sapa-Inca’s courtiers believe he should be paying more attention to the rumours from the north – that the Chibcha have created a large army and have been secretly meeting with a number of rebellious northern nobles.
The French raise still more men in an attempt to save their nation, but the reserves of money have run nearly dry, and the nation is veering on economic collapse.
With the Navarrese pirates returning home to a hero’s welcome, their depredations on Iberian commerce ceases, and Iberia’s African trade network begins to recover (+Dakar Economy Centre), though a more insidious damage may have been done as Navarrese and British traders begin to find their way along the African coast.
The Aragonese also gear themselves for the near final battle, and the raised taxes and fluctuations in the Turkish trade thanks to their renewed involvement on the Indian ocean ends the great profits of the Messina trading guilds (-Messina Economy Centre).
Kalmar ends her various wars by retreating from France, paying off England and ceding the great duchy of Finland to Russia. Though the Danes see the giving up of Finland as a necessity, and the apology forced from the Russians a sign that king Christian still has strength, the Swedes are greatly incensed, and many are considering rebellion. King Christian seems to have been afflicted by the stress of these defeats and has been taken ill. He still has strength to order the allocation of funds to rebuild Stockholm however (+Stockholm Economy Centre).
The HRE finally finish their Gleichschaltung reforms and the empire is organized in a much more efficient manner (+1 Civilian Leadership). However the tension in the empire is beginning to burst from the seams and the gathering of power to Worms and the raising of taxes is only worsening things. Burgundy and the Northern German Cities simmer, angered over apparent ease with which General Etienne manages his rampage (see below) and the money they are loosing to the emperor and the wars. Poles shout their anger over having to fight a silly war in France whilst the Russians threaten their country men and the Turk lies open, and indeed there are rumours of funds and supplies being smuggled across the border into Courland-Lithuania. Finally the Hungarians also shout to attack the Turks, and many young men posture on the border, however the weakness of the Hungarians and their still vital need for the emperor keeps them loyal. The Austrians are also grumbling, though loyal to the emperor they fail to see much point in the French war. In fact the only peoples whose happiness and loyalty is increasing is the north Italians, as they compare the enlightened Hapsburg rule with that of the Pope, especially when Imperial investment makes Milan an important industrial centre (+Milan Economy centre). (-1 Imperial Confidence, -1 Imperial Culture)
A dynamic new leader has been elected to the head of the Riga Congress, but he prefers to keep his identity secret for fear of Russian assassins. In the space of a few months he drastically reforms the army along Imperial lines (indeed there are sightings of Polish officers drilling the troops) forging the old feudal armies and the masses of Baltic volunteers into a true weapon of war, although it is yet untested in battle (+1 Military Leadership).
From his beautiful new cathedral in Moscow the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church declares a Holy war against the Ottoman Sultan, a true servant of the devil, at the same time as the Russian Tsar declared a “racial” war against the Turkic oppressors. Whilst the effect on Slavs and Orthodox communities elsewhere are slight (the Patriarch of the Greek church being just as much a puppet as the Russian one), these declarations bind the Russian people together once more after the crisis of the noble revolts (+2 Culture). The political police and the commissars have a similar spurring effect on the army and they fight with nearly unmatched zeal.
The Ottoman peace in the Bahr al-'Arab sees a restoration of the trade in spices and ivory on the Swahili coast, with the islands of Zanzibar rebuilding and returning to importance after the devastating Sinhalese raid of aught two (+Zanzibar Economy Centre).
Gujarat has shown a new side of itself toward South East Asia, sending not warriors but traders and scholars, as these links build the entire sultanate might benefit from it.
Pieces and Peaces
After three years of some of the most intense fighting the region has seen since the days of Ayutthaya’s break with Ava, or the expulsion of the Iberians, Indochina is once more at peace, though the borders of every state have been redrawn. The war of Avan Partition has confirmed Ayutthaya and White Malaya as the two major players in the region, with White Malaya and her allies perhaps coming out on top in the war. Although it is hard for any side to claim an absolute victory or defeat as all surviving states have made some gains, and most have made some losses.
Travelling from north to south we begin with the Kingdom of Bengal, seemingly ascendant last year in the Bamar lands with their competent army and mercenary forces cutting through the vast conscript armies of Ayutthaya. They were brought to a sudden fall by the intervention of a far greater power – the Sultan of Gujarat. They were forced to make a quick deal with the Thai’s (losing the profitable Mandalay province), and a poor deal with the Gujarati aggressor, conceding their westernmost provinces to the aggressor. Thus they have swapped some old and profitable land for a larger and possibly rebellious vassal in the west, and revanchist tensions run high in the kingdom. Fearful of their defence the King has embarked on a plan to reinvent the army that was so crushed by Gujarat’s, and there is talk of moving the capital to the more secure Chittagong and mending bridges with Ayutthaya.
Next onto Nepal whose contribution of mercenaries to the Bengali cause has won them wealth and a strip of land running from Assam to Baoshan; the work of the cunning Bengali’s to provide themselves a buffer region with china. This taste of power is beginning to make the Malla King and his skilled armies look beyond their mountain kingdom and scheme, as well as the numerous Hindu’s in Bengal and north India begin to pay more attention to Kathmandu. (+1 Confidence)
The single shard of the old Kingdom of Ava still ruled by Burmese is the Princely state of Arakan, controlled by the charismatic prince Singu. Having gained the south of the country in the dissolution it is now making great gains from sea and river trade and is becoming a profitable and dynamic land indeed. Many people wonder however why Singu has not declared himself a King as of yet, perhaps he plans to submit to a greater power, or even gain more lands himself?
Then we move to Ayutthaya, once unquestioned hegemon of Indochina, a true test of its power means it may not be hegemon for long. While probably the technical “winner” of the Avan War, controlling as it does Ava and the profitable Mandalay province, it has lost ground to the Dai Viet and the Malays in the east and south, and the fact that the Chiang Mai rebels managed to force the King to the bargaining table and gaining some autonomy means the imperial power may soon reap a crop of unrest. Whilst still the strongest in terms of manpower and production (especially now the conscripts having returned to work), any further attempts to exert itself will meet enemies that no longer afraid. King Mom Pi seems to realise this and has been working to mend bridges with the various foreign courts with gifts and attempts at trade agreement, as well as beginning construction of proper navy. (Ava restored as an Economy centre, +1 Confidence)
Henceforth east, to the nation of the Viet, which has quite a rosy future ahead it seems as its gain of lands on the upper and lower reaches of the Mekong was met warmly at home, and the increase of productive land and Chinese immigrants has brought wealth to the north (-1 Culture, +1 Confidence, +1 Hanoi Economy centre). Feeling secure in its strong alliance with the White Malay to hold the power of the Thai in check, the Dai Viet’s have their eyes fixed firmly on the rising sun.
Finally we head south to the White Malay’s, who are doing quite well for themselves having gained a good chunk of the Kra Peninsula towards the end of the war, as well as soundly defeat Thai forces sent against them. With peace reigning once more trade is picking up, encouraged by the low taxes the Rajah sets though any positive effects are ameliorated by the demands he places on the treasury, and the cost of running the rapidly growing navy. The great centre of learning and technical training His majesties government has been developing in Malacca is finally complete as well, and there are already a host of projects for it to work on, including a design for a nation wide semaphore system and new road building materials to create a national highway system. As the Dai Viet reach for new geographic horizons the Malays are reaching for new technical ones.
Military
After consolidating its control of Michoacan the Acolhuan empire turned its attention eastward, and rapidly invaded the disorganised Mayan lands along the coast of the T’ho Gulf [7] and even conquering the small city of Xbonil with their heavily armed Zealot horde. This is beginning to seriously worry the other Mayan city states and the great league of T’ho. T’ho has also been expanding its domains but with a rather more peaceful colonization effort in Cubanacon, and diplomatically around Tumben Zima.
(-2 Acolhuan Divisions, -1 Zealot Division)
The new Courland-Lithuanian army is unthreatened by any Russian troops this year so they shelve their counterattack plans and instead concentrate on constructing fortifications.
The Mansa of Songhay has returned to his old expansionist ways and begins to march on the western plains, in a few more years the Songhay armies will undoubtedly reach the Iberian outposts…
(-2 Songhay Divisions)
les Champs de chagrin
The map of France could read like a chessboard, with armies as pieces and their lines of attack interlocking, on wrong move and everything is lost. The beginning of the year saw one player removing their pieces from the board – Kalmar, last in and first out as par their conditional surrender with the British, the battered and starving Scandinavians limped home by February. Aragon, moving quickly, attempted to occupy the regions they had left vacant by cutting through Iberian held Poitou.
However the Aragonese were not quick enough, and merely managed to seize the portions south of the river as French partisans and the armies of the north quickly moved to retake Nantes. However this did not effect the Aragonese plan over much, as they were soon marching up the Loire towards the centre of France. Whilst this was going on a major Imperial offensive was reaching out of South Burgundy. Within a few months the armies met in the city of Bourges and France was split in twain. There was no one to prevent this action as General Etienne was distracted with a second Imperial front in the north, and Alexis’s army was attempting once more to break the Aragonese and Languedoc. With Bourges taken the Germans, Aragonese and Savoyards and Papal troops began sweeping from the east and Alexis’s position was looking more and more untenable…
…If not for a mistake the allies had made. They had left the defense of Aquitaine in the hands of the Iberians, and the Iberians were far the weakest of the armies on the board of France. As soon as his spies brought him news of this Alexis marched west at full pace, and with the aide of an uprising in Gascony the Iberian armies were shredded like paper, the last remaining troops evacuating Arcachon in August. With his back to the sea and neutral Navarre Alexis was able to fight a staying action against the hordes of enemies slowly closing in from the east, the Aragonese Berber cavalry seeming strike everywhere with great fury.
Meanwhile although the northwest of France had a relatively peaceful year, the northeast faced an even more extreme battle than the south, given how it was confined in space. The Imperials had begun to move north from the recently captured city of Troyes with an army of hundreds of thousands of men. Luckily for them, the northern French also had hundreds of thousands of men with nearly a quarter the male population under arms. Thus the battle ground on for months with little pushes back and forth as territory was exchanged, the superior rockets and artillery of the French being matched by the sheer amount of war material the Imperials had brought to bear. The imperials sought to encircle the line of the French defenses around Île-de-France in order to give more options for the direction of their final attack, and slowly but surely they worked around. After a defeat near Soissons the main force of the French army seemed to melt away however; the imperials suspecting a trap slowed their advance, and it was not for a week that they uncovered the terrible truth…
…for General Etienne had a brave plan – he would take the fight to the imperials! He had taken the bulk of his army and marched east into Burgundy, taking advantage of the lack of defenses. Within two weeks he was at the gates of Brussels, and after a brief siege the city was his. However he knew he could not stay in one place for that would result in the Imperials destroying him and soon he was off east again. Living off the land and disrupting the commerce and life of north Burgundy (-Amsterdam Economy centre, -Köln Economy Centre) the direction of his seemingly random march became clear – he wished to reach Worms itself! However such was not to be, for the Imperial army finally caught up to the bold general and defeated him in the Battle of Boppard, one of the most vicious battles in European history. The French used to time brought to pushed back the Imperial encroachments, and the chaos of northern burgundy allowed a great deal of Etienne’s army to return to France, though the General himself was killed at Boppard.
The Imperials were forced to spend the last third of the year restoring order in North Burgundy and were unable to push the French any further, both sides being greatly weakened. However the French had expelled the last of their reserves, and things looked grim indeed.
(-32 Imperial Divisions, -31 French Divisions, -11 Brigade de Fusee, -8 Aragonese Divisions, -2 Berber Cavalry, -14 Iberian Divisions, -4 French Squadrons)
Старая ненависть
The Ottomans were somewhat…well worried is not quite the word for the feeling of these fierce soldiers, but they definitely felt something akin to it in the opening of 1704. Other fronts were opening up in the great Turko-Russian war, and as Russia prepared to throw everything and the kitchen sink at the invaders the Turks decided they had perhaps overstretched themselves. Thus they retreated from their furthermost Northern gains on Dnepr and burnt Kiev to the ground on the way out.
The Russians were not idle as this happened, quite on the contrary as a tremendous army was raised, harshly damaging the nations economy in the process, and even sending their numerous political prisoners to the front lines to fight. Perhaps even more importantly they instilled an new sense of loyalty and purity in an army slightly troubled in the Noble Revolts, with the institution of Commissars and the declaration of a holy and racial war on the Turkic foe. The great Russian bear was now ready to strike back, and strike back he did with more than two hundred thousand men marching south.
The westernmost prong of the great Russian counteroffensive was perhaps the least successful attempting to strike at the Ottoman concentrations on the Dnepr, which were numerous and well supplied via the great river. Again and again the Russians tried to assault the Ottoman guns, but each time they were defeated by the janissary skill. Even worse was the fate the partisan army the Russians raised west of Dnepr, as a wave of Ottomans crossed Dnestr and swept to Zhitomir. With the Ottomans in the west, south and east, and the Pripet Marshes blocking a retreat to the north the partisans were killed to the last man (inflicting causalities in return of course), and ottoman power is nearly unquestioned west of the Dnepr.
Onto the central prong of the Russian attack which proved rather more successful in its actions. While the Ottomans were defeating the Russians in the west, they were also tied down by those conflicts; with an army mustered out of Kharkov by General Alekseev struck out for the Don. They achieved significant success and cleared out Ottoman forces all the way to Shakhty. Receiving additional forces from the western generals who had resigned themselves to merely holding the Ottomans in place, as a daring Ottoman assault had even taken Kharkov towards the end of August, as well as men from the reserve forces deep in Russian territory. With these reinforcements, particularly the feared special forces, Alekseev managed to break the Turkish defensive line and besiege Azov itself! While unable to take the city thanks to it being able to get supplies in by sea, and suffering fearsome losses Alekseev held his ground – by isolating Azov he severely restricted Ottoman operations in the central and eastern theatres for the rest of the year, and is the main reason why the eastern wings of the Russian counterattack had their own successes.
And success they had; whilst in the first part of the year the Ottomans managed to take Tsaritsyn and the strategically important Volga-Don region (damaging the Russian canal that was under construction in the process), after “Alekseev’s Ride” they were unable to make further progress as their attempts at raids were driven back by fierce partisan activity and the actions of the Russians reserve. This gave the easternmost wing of the Russian assault time to clear out the lands east of the Volga, using their superior numbers to negate the mobility the open plains offered the Ottoman raiders (though this took most of the year), liberating Astrakhan in late November. However try as they might the Russians have not yet been able to sustain an assault across the Volga thanks to Turkish ships and firepower and the Ottomans have been making quite a fortress of the regions north of the Caucasus.
At the end of the wars second year it seems the seemingly irresistible force of the Ottomans have met an immovable object in Vladimir II, but if this is a turning point in the tide, or merely a minor interruption remains to be seen.
(+10 Russian Irregular divisions)
(-21 Russian Irregular Divisions, -26 Russian Divisions, -2 спецназ Divisions, -4 Ottoman Squadrons, -10 Ottoman Divisions, -6 Ottoman Janissary Divisions, -4 Ottoman Irregular Divisions)
Non Military
The Affalon settlers travel further round the coast of Nova Hibernia and even plant small outposts on the far side of the Bay of Fundy [1], though the regions strange tides are proving something of a hindrance to navigation.
The High Priest of Acolhua has expended great efforts to restore Michoacan’s bronze industry and sea trade, but this is hampered somewhat by his insistence on spreading the religion of the Lifegiver which is…reducing the population somewhat.
The rumours of great “Floating islands” in the south intrigues the Sapa-Inca and he even makes a visit south to investigate the stories. However no more vessels have appeared this year, and the Sapa-Inca’s courtiers believe he should be paying more attention to the rumours from the north – that the Chibcha have created a large army and have been secretly meeting with a number of rebellious northern nobles.
The French raise still more men in an attempt to save their nation, but the reserves of money have run nearly dry, and the nation is veering on economic collapse.
With the Navarrese pirates returning home to a hero’s welcome, their depredations on Iberian commerce ceases, and Iberia’s African trade network begins to recover (+Dakar Economy Centre), though a more insidious damage may have been done as Navarrese and British traders begin to find their way along the African coast.
The Aragonese also gear themselves for the near final battle, and the raised taxes and fluctuations in the Turkish trade thanks to their renewed involvement on the Indian ocean ends the great profits of the Messina trading guilds (-Messina Economy Centre).
Kalmar ends her various wars by retreating from France, paying off England and ceding the great duchy of Finland to Russia. Though the Danes see the giving up of Finland as a necessity, and the apology forced from the Russians a sign that king Christian still has strength, the Swedes are greatly incensed, and many are considering rebellion. King Christian seems to have been afflicted by the stress of these defeats and has been taken ill. He still has strength to order the allocation of funds to rebuild Stockholm however (+Stockholm Economy Centre).
The HRE finally finish their Gleichschaltung reforms and the empire is organized in a much more efficient manner (+1 Civilian Leadership). However the tension in the empire is beginning to burst from the seams and the gathering of power to Worms and the raising of taxes is only worsening things. Burgundy and the Northern German Cities simmer, angered over apparent ease with which General Etienne manages his rampage (see below) and the money they are loosing to the emperor and the wars. Poles shout their anger over having to fight a silly war in France whilst the Russians threaten their country men and the Turk lies open, and indeed there are rumours of funds and supplies being smuggled across the border into Courland-Lithuania. Finally the Hungarians also shout to attack the Turks, and many young men posture on the border, however the weakness of the Hungarians and their still vital need for the emperor keeps them loyal. The Austrians are also grumbling, though loyal to the emperor they fail to see much point in the French war. In fact the only peoples whose happiness and loyalty is increasing is the north Italians, as they compare the enlightened Hapsburg rule with that of the Pope, especially when Imperial investment makes Milan an important industrial centre (+Milan Economy centre). (-1 Imperial Confidence, -1 Imperial Culture)
A dynamic new leader has been elected to the head of the Riga Congress, but he prefers to keep his identity secret for fear of Russian assassins. In the space of a few months he drastically reforms the army along Imperial lines (indeed there are sightings of Polish officers drilling the troops) forging the old feudal armies and the masses of Baltic volunteers into a true weapon of war, although it is yet untested in battle (+1 Military Leadership).
From his beautiful new cathedral in Moscow the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church declares a Holy war against the Ottoman Sultan, a true servant of the devil, at the same time as the Russian Tsar declared a “racial” war against the Turkic oppressors. Whilst the effect on Slavs and Orthodox communities elsewhere are slight (the Patriarch of the Greek church being just as much a puppet as the Russian one), these declarations bind the Russian people together once more after the crisis of the noble revolts (+2 Culture). The political police and the commissars have a similar spurring effect on the army and they fight with nearly unmatched zeal.
The Ottoman peace in the Bahr al-'Arab sees a restoration of the trade in spices and ivory on the Swahili coast, with the islands of Zanzibar rebuilding and returning to importance after the devastating Sinhalese raid of aught two (+Zanzibar Economy Centre).
Gujarat has shown a new side of itself toward South East Asia, sending not warriors but traders and scholars, as these links build the entire sultanate might benefit from it.
Pieces and Peaces
After three years of some of the most intense fighting the region has seen since the days of Ayutthaya’s break with Ava, or the expulsion of the Iberians, Indochina is once more at peace, though the borders of every state have been redrawn. The war of Avan Partition has confirmed Ayutthaya and White Malaya as the two major players in the region, with White Malaya and her allies perhaps coming out on top in the war. Although it is hard for any side to claim an absolute victory or defeat as all surviving states have made some gains, and most have made some losses.
Travelling from north to south we begin with the Kingdom of Bengal, seemingly ascendant last year in the Bamar lands with their competent army and mercenary forces cutting through the vast conscript armies of Ayutthaya. They were brought to a sudden fall by the intervention of a far greater power – the Sultan of Gujarat. They were forced to make a quick deal with the Thai’s (losing the profitable Mandalay province), and a poor deal with the Gujarati aggressor, conceding their westernmost provinces to the aggressor. Thus they have swapped some old and profitable land for a larger and possibly rebellious vassal in the west, and revanchist tensions run high in the kingdom. Fearful of their defence the King has embarked on a plan to reinvent the army that was so crushed by Gujarat’s, and there is talk of moving the capital to the more secure Chittagong and mending bridges with Ayutthaya.
Next onto Nepal whose contribution of mercenaries to the Bengali cause has won them wealth and a strip of land running from Assam to Baoshan; the work of the cunning Bengali’s to provide themselves a buffer region with china. This taste of power is beginning to make the Malla King and his skilled armies look beyond their mountain kingdom and scheme, as well as the numerous Hindu’s in Bengal and north India begin to pay more attention to Kathmandu. (+1 Confidence)
The single shard of the old Kingdom of Ava still ruled by Burmese is the Princely state of Arakan, controlled by the charismatic prince Singu. Having gained the south of the country in the dissolution it is now making great gains from sea and river trade and is becoming a profitable and dynamic land indeed. Many people wonder however why Singu has not declared himself a King as of yet, perhaps he plans to submit to a greater power, or even gain more lands himself?
Then we move to Ayutthaya, once unquestioned hegemon of Indochina, a true test of its power means it may not be hegemon for long. While probably the technical “winner” of the Avan War, controlling as it does Ava and the profitable Mandalay province, it has lost ground to the Dai Viet and the Malays in the east and south, and the fact that the Chiang Mai rebels managed to force the King to the bargaining table and gaining some autonomy means the imperial power may soon reap a crop of unrest. Whilst still the strongest in terms of manpower and production (especially now the conscripts having returned to work), any further attempts to exert itself will meet enemies that no longer afraid. King Mom Pi seems to realise this and has been working to mend bridges with the various foreign courts with gifts and attempts at trade agreement, as well as beginning construction of proper navy. (Ava restored as an Economy centre, +1 Confidence)
Henceforth east, to the nation of the Viet, which has quite a rosy future ahead it seems as its gain of lands on the upper and lower reaches of the Mekong was met warmly at home, and the increase of productive land and Chinese immigrants has brought wealth to the north (-1 Culture, +1 Confidence, +1 Hanoi Economy centre). Feeling secure in its strong alliance with the White Malay to hold the power of the Thai in check, the Dai Viet’s have their eyes fixed firmly on the rising sun.
Finally we head south to the White Malay’s, who are doing quite well for themselves having gained a good chunk of the Kra Peninsula towards the end of the war, as well as soundly defeat Thai forces sent against them. With peace reigning once more trade is picking up, encouraged by the low taxes the Rajah sets though any positive effects are ameliorated by the demands he places on the treasury, and the cost of running the rapidly growing navy. The great centre of learning and technical training His majesties government has been developing in Malacca is finally complete as well, and there are already a host of projects for it to work on, including a design for a nation wide semaphore system and new road building materials to create a national highway system. As the Dai Viet reach for new geographic horizons the Malays are reaching for new technical ones.
Military
After consolidating its control of Michoacan the Acolhuan empire turned its attention eastward, and rapidly invaded the disorganised Mayan lands along the coast of the T’ho Gulf [7] and even conquering the small city of Xbonil with their heavily armed Zealot horde. This is beginning to seriously worry the other Mayan city states and the great league of T’ho. T’ho has also been expanding its domains but with a rather more peaceful colonization effort in Cubanacon, and diplomatically around Tumben Zima.
(-2 Acolhuan Divisions, -1 Zealot Division)
The new Courland-Lithuanian army is unthreatened by any Russian troops this year so they shelve their counterattack plans and instead concentrate on constructing fortifications.
The Mansa of Songhay has returned to his old expansionist ways and begins to march on the western plains, in a few more years the Songhay armies will undoubtedly reach the Iberian outposts…
(-2 Songhay Divisions)
les Champs de chagrin
The map of France could read like a chessboard, with armies as pieces and their lines of attack interlocking, on wrong move and everything is lost. The beginning of the year saw one player removing their pieces from the board – Kalmar, last in and first out as par their conditional surrender with the British, the battered and starving Scandinavians limped home by February. Aragon, moving quickly, attempted to occupy the regions they had left vacant by cutting through Iberian held Poitou.
However the Aragonese were not quick enough, and merely managed to seize the portions south of the river as French partisans and the armies of the north quickly moved to retake Nantes. However this did not effect the Aragonese plan over much, as they were soon marching up the Loire towards the centre of France. Whilst this was going on a major Imperial offensive was reaching out of South Burgundy. Within a few months the armies met in the city of Bourges and France was split in twain. There was no one to prevent this action as General Etienne was distracted with a second Imperial front in the north, and Alexis’s army was attempting once more to break the Aragonese and Languedoc. With Bourges taken the Germans, Aragonese and Savoyards and Papal troops began sweeping from the east and Alexis’s position was looking more and more untenable…
…If not for a mistake the allies had made. They had left the defense of Aquitaine in the hands of the Iberians, and the Iberians were far the weakest of the armies on the board of France. As soon as his spies brought him news of this Alexis marched west at full pace, and with the aide of an uprising in Gascony the Iberian armies were shredded like paper, the last remaining troops evacuating Arcachon in August. With his back to the sea and neutral Navarre Alexis was able to fight a staying action against the hordes of enemies slowly closing in from the east, the Aragonese Berber cavalry seeming strike everywhere with great fury.
Meanwhile although the northwest of France had a relatively peaceful year, the northeast faced an even more extreme battle than the south, given how it was confined in space. The Imperials had begun to move north from the recently captured city of Troyes with an army of hundreds of thousands of men. Luckily for them, the northern French also had hundreds of thousands of men with nearly a quarter the male population under arms. Thus the battle ground on for months with little pushes back and forth as territory was exchanged, the superior rockets and artillery of the French being matched by the sheer amount of war material the Imperials had brought to bear. The imperials sought to encircle the line of the French defenses around Île-de-France in order to give more options for the direction of their final attack, and slowly but surely they worked around. After a defeat near Soissons the main force of the French army seemed to melt away however; the imperials suspecting a trap slowed their advance, and it was not for a week that they uncovered the terrible truth…
…for General Etienne had a brave plan – he would take the fight to the imperials! He had taken the bulk of his army and marched east into Burgundy, taking advantage of the lack of defenses. Within two weeks he was at the gates of Brussels, and after a brief siege the city was his. However he knew he could not stay in one place for that would result in the Imperials destroying him and soon he was off east again. Living off the land and disrupting the commerce and life of north Burgundy (-Amsterdam Economy centre, -Köln Economy Centre) the direction of his seemingly random march became clear – he wished to reach Worms itself! However such was not to be, for the Imperial army finally caught up to the bold general and defeated him in the Battle of Boppard, one of the most vicious battles in European history. The French used to time brought to pushed back the Imperial encroachments, and the chaos of northern burgundy allowed a great deal of Etienne’s army to return to France, though the General himself was killed at Boppard.
The Imperials were forced to spend the last third of the year restoring order in North Burgundy and were unable to push the French any further, both sides being greatly weakened. However the French had expelled the last of their reserves, and things looked grim indeed.
(-32 Imperial Divisions, -31 French Divisions, -11 Brigade de Fusee, -8 Aragonese Divisions, -2 Berber Cavalry, -14 Iberian Divisions, -4 French Squadrons)
Старая ненависть
The Ottomans were somewhat…well worried is not quite the word for the feeling of these fierce soldiers, but they definitely felt something akin to it in the opening of 1704. Other fronts were opening up in the great Turko-Russian war, and as Russia prepared to throw everything and the kitchen sink at the invaders the Turks decided they had perhaps overstretched themselves. Thus they retreated from their furthermost Northern gains on Dnepr and burnt Kiev to the ground on the way out.
The Russians were not idle as this happened, quite on the contrary as a tremendous army was raised, harshly damaging the nations economy in the process, and even sending their numerous political prisoners to the front lines to fight. Perhaps even more importantly they instilled an new sense of loyalty and purity in an army slightly troubled in the Noble Revolts, with the institution of Commissars and the declaration of a holy and racial war on the Turkic foe. The great Russian bear was now ready to strike back, and strike back he did with more than two hundred thousand men marching south.
The westernmost prong of the great Russian counteroffensive was perhaps the least successful attempting to strike at the Ottoman concentrations on the Dnepr, which were numerous and well supplied via the great river. Again and again the Russians tried to assault the Ottoman guns, but each time they were defeated by the janissary skill. Even worse was the fate the partisan army the Russians raised west of Dnepr, as a wave of Ottomans crossed Dnestr and swept to Zhitomir. With the Ottomans in the west, south and east, and the Pripet Marshes blocking a retreat to the north the partisans were killed to the last man (inflicting causalities in return of course), and ottoman power is nearly unquestioned west of the Dnepr.
Onto the central prong of the Russian attack which proved rather more successful in its actions. While the Ottomans were defeating the Russians in the west, they were also tied down by those conflicts; with an army mustered out of Kharkov by General Alekseev struck out for the Don. They achieved significant success and cleared out Ottoman forces all the way to Shakhty. Receiving additional forces from the western generals who had resigned themselves to merely holding the Ottomans in place, as a daring Ottoman assault had even taken Kharkov towards the end of August, as well as men from the reserve forces deep in Russian territory. With these reinforcements, particularly the feared special forces, Alekseev managed to break the Turkish defensive line and besiege Azov itself! While unable to take the city thanks to it being able to get supplies in by sea, and suffering fearsome losses Alekseev held his ground – by isolating Azov he severely restricted Ottoman operations in the central and eastern theatres for the rest of the year, and is the main reason why the eastern wings of the Russian counterattack had their own successes.
And success they had; whilst in the first part of the year the Ottomans managed to take Tsaritsyn and the strategically important Volga-Don region (damaging the Russian canal that was under construction in the process), after “Alekseev’s Ride” they were unable to make further progress as their attempts at raids were driven back by fierce partisan activity and the actions of the Russians reserve. This gave the easternmost wing of the Russian assault time to clear out the lands east of the Volga, using their superior numbers to negate the mobility the open plains offered the Ottoman raiders (though this took most of the year), liberating Astrakhan in late November. However try as they might the Russians have not yet been able to sustain an assault across the Volga thanks to Turkish ships and firepower and the Ottomans have been making quite a fortress of the regions north of the Caucasus.
At the end of the wars second year it seems the seemingly irresistible force of the Ottomans have met an immovable object in Vladimir II, but if this is a turning point in the tide, or merely a minor interruption remains to be seen.
(+10 Russian Irregular divisions)
(-21 Russian Irregular Divisions, -26 Russian Divisions, -2 спецназ Divisions, -4 Ottoman Squadrons, -10 Ottoman Divisions, -6 Ottoman Janissary Divisions, -4 Ottoman Irregular Divisions)
