Updater 3400BC
The World is ablaze in the 2 biggest wars to ever be recorded in history. The first is the Punic War, raging on in Western Europe between Rome and her allies against the combined forces of mighty Carthage and her ally, the Spanish freedom fighters. The second is the First War of the Holy Land, between Egypt and the united front of Persia, Arabia, and of course, Israel.
The Holy War is a lot simpler, as are the events that have unfolded since we last checked. The Egyptian city of Sinai was heavily fortified and greeted the oncoming Arab/Persian/Israeli armies with double walls and archers. The superiorly trained Alliance Forces were able to qucikly withstand the haile of Egyptian arrows, avoiding any major casualties. The Egyptian archers were obviously peasents who had only recently picked up their arms.Then things got tougher. Several times during the next 4 months, Alliance Forces tried to break into the city from the siege, always unsuccesfully. Even the eventual landing of Israeli troops behind Sinai proved unsuccesfull as the city was well fortified on all sides. A genious Arab officer however, got the idea of the world's first battering ram, and offered his side a big advantage. Within days, the double walls broke down, and Alliance troops entered the city, although with heavy casualties. The death toll mounted even higher with the hundreds of Alliance troops who lost their lives in the inner city fighting that ensued. In the end however, the Israeli banner flew proudly over Sinai. The city however, was burned to the ground, and would take an economy level before it was back to it's former splendor. Since then, Persian troops fortified Sinai while the Israeli and Egyptian armies went on to take a bit more of the outlying area. All that's left of Egypt is a miniscule army, and the legendary city of Thebes, along with it's beutiful pyramids wonder that was constructed just recently.
The only other news of note is the Arab colony constructed in India. The natives react with hostility and almost drive the Arabs back into the sea.
In Europe, the situation is much more complicated. Vercingetorix's army split in half. With the invitation from Spain to the Gauls, and the USE's offer, Gaul was split into two halves. The Northern sided with the USE and became the province of Gaul, while the Southern joined Spain. Luetia of the Gauls became Spain's temporary capital. The result was a deep split within Vercingetorix's army, meaning that over half of it left. Vercingetorix himself was said to favor the Spaniards thinking that they had a lot in common with his Gauls, but never openly admitted to this. What remained of his army was slaughtered soon enough at the historic battle of Amsterdam. The Gauls put up a terrific fight, but eventually, the USE forces simply overwhelmed them. A statue of Vercingetorix accepting defeat was made in the middle of Amsterdam. When he was found and killed, he was buried under the statue in the very heart of the city he tried to capture. The Northern Gauls thought this appropriate, while the Southern considered it a grave insult to a heroic martyr.
Meanwhile in Spain, things aren't going too well for Rome. The freedom fighting Spaniards slowly gain more and more land. Different nobles loosely work together to establish a very sporadic "Spanish state". The Carthaginians were briefly driven away from Spain, but with the troubles they faced from the Spanish in the West they had to switch their focus. This allowed the Carthaginians to gain a firm foothold which they never lost. Together with the Spanish, they managed to fulfill their original strategy, splitting Roman Spain into two halfs. The Western was quickly overrun and became the very first official kingdom of Spain. Northern Spain (Southern Gaul) wasn't as lucky. It was soon invaded by Danish and Roman forces in an attempt to salvage at least something from the war.
In the meanwhile, the unadressed Gothic army marched onto the Holy Roman capital drawing ever-nearer....
In China, peaceful expansion as the two rival empires express no desire to expand outside of their present borders.
In Africa, Timbuktu expands before suddenly getting attacked by a warrior race from the South for no reason. The Zulu, thanks to a recently constructed wonder, have a huge army, and pride themselves on never accepting peace in their history. They quickly gain as much of Timbuktu as they can and march onto the capital, destroying everything in their path...
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From Rome
To Spain
We will tolerate your existance if you give us all your Gaulic possesions immediatly and cancel your alliance with Carthage.
From Egypt
To Israel
Spare us and our great civilization. We never meant any harm.
From Zulu
To Timbuktu
Great Shaka Zulu demands you surrender all your possesions and virgins, lest you want all in your empire to be killed. If you are wise and accept, only half will die.
From Ethiopia
To Hedjaz
Help us! A massive empire to the South is on our doorstep! If they conquer us, you'll be next. We must unite before it's too late!
From Korea
To China
Of course we won't expand. Why do you think we built up a navy and completed a giant wall??
From Japan
To China
Stay away from us, we'll stay away from you.