Update 18 - 500 BCE
It seems that this has been coming for a while but constantly the event was delayed by one thing or another.
But its happened
The grand might of the Afridi Pashtun Empire has struck the Israelite Empire off-guard. From literally the entire Israelite-Pashtun border, rampaging hordes stampeded, making mincemeat of the Israelite border armies. With lightning speed and precision, the Pashtun Army has overrun most of Israel, taking control of the provinces of Syria, Palestine, and Jordan, as well as a successful assault on Socotra.
In the countryside, the male population and local military regiments attempted to fight back, but their organization wasnt much better than the cohesion of the multi-ethnic Pashtun Army, and their numerical inferiority determined the fate of the countryside. The women, children, and elderly tried to flee as their able-bodied men tried to stall the inevitable, but before they managed to reach the safer, fortified cities, the defenders had fallen. Bloodbaths occurred everywhere. Only a lucky few survived the massacres, and these lucky ones were doomed to live out the rest of their interrupted lives as slaves to Persian governors.
The cities fought harder, and inflicted more casualties on the Pashtuns, but the Socotra seaport and several cities in Israels provinces fell. In Israel-proper, only Jabesh-Gilead and Jerusalem remain unoccupied. But they are separated from each other by the barbarians occupied regions, the borders of which now extend all the way from Travancore in the east to Egypt in the west. With the rest of the area around them, including most food supplies, cut off, the hardest times since the Babylonian Plague will come to Israel. Interestingly enough, this is the second time that such a disaster happened upon Israel that originated in the east.
In Socotra, supposedly the Pashtuns spared only the children who were less than 5 years of age. Immediately, the first settlers from the Empires heartland arrived, to take in these abandoned orphans and make their lives there in Pashtun, not Israelite, Socotra. With it as a stronghold, the Pashtuns may be able to even strike the Israelite colonies of Somalia and Kenya.
The Pashtun Empires governors scrounged up a bit unity again by calling on a war to rescue Zoroastrianism from the hateful ambitions of Israelite fanatics, but its unlikely that this religious unity will bind the Babylonians, non-Afridi Pashtuns, and the Turkic peoples living in the land between Persia and Uzbekistan, to the bureaucracy of the Persians and militarism of the Afridi Pashtuns forever. Already desertions from the army are occurring, and even during the process of gathering people to settle Socotra, some resisted the resettlement efforts.
The city of Kabul, though, has been rebuilt by the Afridis.
ISRAEL: -2 Confidence; -30,000 population; -100 Swordsmen, -100 Archers, -100 Horse-Archers
The Roman Civil War, meanwhile, continues.
A bit more land has been captured in Sicily by Israel, and the eastern coasts have been blockaded. In the north, the Austrians, seeing the situation has been stabilized, have withdrawn their troops.
The two Roman armies remain at a stalemate, unable to hold the ground they gain, and thus the border remains static for now.
The situation in the political arena, however, has been compounded. Apparently, during secret negotiations, the Imperialist government in Neapolis has recognized the Byzantine Emperor as their Emperor as well after he arrived (his convoy, including military regiments reached the Italian coast just before the Israelite blockade), effectively bringing the southern Italian peninsula into the Byzantine Empire.
This, in turn, compounds the international relations situation: now that the Byzantine Emperor is in control of the Roman Empire, it means that he is officially committed to defeating the Roman Republic, or at the very least keeping southern Italy and Sicily as Byzantine territory. In addition, the Roman Imperial troops that the Israelites have been fighting are now officially part of the Byzantine Army Israels ally. If Israel continues fighting, then it will mean war with its ally Byzantium. But if Israel stops fighting, it means that the staunchly anti-monarchist Roman Republic will have less military support from the regional powers. On the other hand, Byzantium is being invaded by the Bulgars and may soon cease to be a factor in the region, anyway, so it might not hurt Israel much if it maintains its commitment to the Republic the Emperors flight from his capital is testament to the new apparent weakness of the Byzantine Empire, though he
did bring soldiers with him to southern Italy.
ROMAN REPUBLIC: -150 Swordsmen, -200 Spearmen, -100 Horsemen
BYZANTINE EMPIRE: -200 Spearmen, -200 Horse-Archers, -150 Swordsmen
ISRAEL: -120 Horse-Archers
Many Kohanes fled Israel, through Jerusalem, and have spread across the Mediterranean, to avoid the anti-Jewish Pashtun invaders.
In addition, many Israelites that managed to make it to the ports before the Pashtuns did have left on ships and also spread throughout the nearby Mediterranean countries. The refugees avoided only Egypt and the Byzantine Empire (including the former Roman Empire), fearing these to be the next to suffer barbaric onslaught.
More of the Byzantine Empire is taken by the Bulgars, whose advance has stopped just short of the cities of Leopolis and Byzantium and the road connecting them.
Eire has attacked the ex-Brandenburgian peninsula called Denmark. The peninsula has been taken by Irish forces, and all local barbarian camps have been destroyed.
As the Bulgar Empire extends so much, it is beginning to show signs of more frailty. The costly victories at Bratislava and Breslau, though at first not affecting more than the forefront-invaders, have begun to resonate shockwaves all the way back east. Local populations are more galvanized out of their misery, and small uprisings, though crushed, have occurred in Muscovy. To deal with the overstreched position of their empire, top Bulgar warlords met in the city of Kiev to discuss the danger of their populations rising against Bulgar military rule. Present were the military leaders of each region, along with the local collaborators, and delegates from Greater Armenia and Astrakhan. They took note of collaborators in the various regions, as well as the new demographics in the regions (the mixing of Kievan, Slovak, and Bulgar, for instance, has essentially created the Ruthenians as an ethnicity), and reached an agreement concerning the situation of the Bulgar Empire.
As the result of the Kiev Pact, the following decisions were made:
- In southern Brandenburg, with the addition of the western Slovak provinces of Bohemia and Moravia and the western half of former Silesia, would be the new state of Saxony to be ruled by the Babenbergs who fled Austria, since they seemed very collaborationist.
- Khazaria would be created, in the land known as Khazaria to be ruled by the Khazars (Bulgar Jews)
- Including the city of Lwow (in Galicia), and parts of old Kiev, would be created Ruthenia to be ruled by the Ruthenian governors
- Greater Dacia would encompass the lands that pre-war Dacia had, in addition to the lands that had been taken from Byzantium during the first phase of the Byzantine campaign
- Kharkov, in the eastern Kievan Empire
- Lithuania, in former Balticum
- The lands of Slovakia, with the exclusion of the eastern province (Galicia) and the western provinces (Bohemia and Moravia) are to be allocated to Hungary
- Former Crimea, with the exception of the lands of Khazaria, is to be given to Greater Armenia
- Astrakhan will be given the land east of the Volga River
- All new states created will be allied together, and will cooperate with the Bulgar Empire.
- The lands not divided into new administrative states will remain as Bulgar military controlled territory as the Bulgar Empire
- The territory between the Danube and the Byzantine capital will be reserved for Bulgar settlers. All current non-Bulgar residents are to be expelled.
BYZANTIUM: -200 Archers, -150 Swordsmen, -150 Horsemen
In the Choson Empire, a front in northeastern Korea has been reopened by another Malaysian invasion force. It has been a lot more successful than the first attempt, and the Nihonese Army, largely stationed in this puppet state, has been dealt major blows, not anticipating a renewed attempt. They were trying to stage an invasion of Sakhalin, and thus were not ready to defend. The news of the successful invasion prompted a revolution, the Koreans joining the Beijingians to overthrow the Nihonese-controlled government. The Nihonese aristocrat that was made Emperor has been executed, and the revolutionaries elevated their own noble families to leadership of a republican government.
A cease-fire is called by Malaysian and GDC forces.
Revolts in Eastern Borneo die down a bit as the Balazis are brought in and preach the Nihonese disruption of the all-important balance.
The GDC Senate continues to demand that peace is immediately signed with Malaysia.
NIHON: -800 Spearmen; -400 Archers, -600 Horsemen, -200 Swordsmen, -2 Confidence
MALAYSIA: -140 Swordsmen
CHINESE-CHOSON EMPIRE: -150 Swordsmen
CHOSON EMPIRE: -250 Swordsmen; Government becomes Aristocratic Republic
GREATER DEMOCRATIC COMMONWEALTH: -1 confidence
The government of Travancore has undergone a quite massive, and unique, undertaking. They have begun redistributing land to the peasants, in an attempt to gain more enthusiasm and support for their administration. Indeed, peasants were grateful for the gesture, but those who have not been educated enough have led some land into disrepair without having directions from the hierarchy above. The move has alienated some members of the High Council and much of the lesser nobility, as well, particularly in Western Travancore (the area that used to be Mumbai). The Western nobles decry the maneuver as foolish, claiming that the peasants are too stupid and ignorant to know what to do with these acquisitions. Its difficult to determine how it will affect governments standing among the population in the long-term, but for now, the majority (ie, the peasantry) of the population is ecstatic.
TRAVANCORE: +2 Confidence
At a large settlement called Chitchen Itza, a Maya warlord comes to prominence, and unifies the Mayans under the Mayan Empire. It is said that he is willing to have peace with the Aztec Empire, but he demands that the rights of the Southern Traditionalists are respected and that enslavement of the Traditionalists ends immediately. Indeed, many Aztec Traditionalists have crossed into the Maya territories for refuge.
After determining that it is unlikely that Aztec ships ever made it as far as Roanoke, the New Illini authorities have determined that the only other possible perpetrator of the sneak-attack was the Caribbean Empire, hoping to prevent an alliance between the Aztecs and New Illini that could destroy the Caribbean Empires regional power standing. Due to this conclusion, the New Illini have decided not to pay back the economy point to the Caribbean Empire.
Meanwhile, the Ontarians have been invaded by both groups of Illini people! Old Illinois surged into Michigan and New Illini laid waste to the ill-prepared Ontarian armies everywhere else. No sovereign Iroquois country exists anymore. The Old Illini have been relatively humane in Michigan. The New Illini, though, are filled with hatred and have enslaved survivors of massacres in slave-labor camps.
The surprise dual-attacks and the skill of the Old and New Illini armies made battle losses negligible for their side, while the Ontarians lost, quite literally, everything.
Lesotho has collapsed, unable to muster enough upgrades and strength in time to prevent further Malagasy victories.
However, local civilian resistance continues, and the Zambian revolts are actually expanding, the Iubabarises not having been deployed into the areas.
MALAGASY: -300 Swordsmen, -250 Horsemen
STORY BONUSES
Caribbean Empire: +1 Culture
New Illinois: +1 Economy level
NPC Diplomacy
From Maya
To Aztecs:
Allow the Southern Traditionalists to worship as they please and this war will end now.
OOC
Orders are due Sunday 12 PM US Central Time, since it took me so long this time. No late orders will be accepted. No late order revisions will be accepted.
To Lord_Iggy, I dont know if Sheep has the time for this anymore. I dont want to speak for him, but it seems like he might not anymore, because he essentially never responded to your further proposals for peace, and this turn I got no orders from him. If that happens again this time, then I will respond for the GDC.
