[BTS] [RFC/DoC] Turks! The Scourge of the East!
- Thread starter Gruekiller
- Start date
Tambien
Theseus, Duke of Athens
It was a preemptive measure. 
By the dawn of the next century, the aging Mehmet, his manpower restored, began a series of new campaigns. With his primary force stalled for the moment in Epirus by that nation's tenacious despot, he sent a spare force under the command of Baibar the Kipchak, one of his lieutenants, into the Levant. The mobile and powerful force of the horse archer, ever a bane to the more sessile societies of the Middle East, more than stood up to the archers protecting Jerusalem. Though the al-Aqsa Mosque and the area of Solomon's Temple were left unharmed, the rest of the city was not so lucky. With the wealth of the city's Jewish and Christian shrines taken and control of the Jordan Valley secure, Baibar led his troops northeast, to press on towards the greatest city of Islam.
Baibar the Kipchak takes the city of Jerusalem.
The general consensus among historians is that, at around this point, the Caliph finally grasped the gravity of the situation.
A call to arms from the Commander of the Faithful was, naturally, insufficient to successfully curb the wrath of the Turks. Baghdad, the largest and most sophisticated city in the world, was sacked by the Turks, its people slaughtered, wealth taken, and great libraries burned - the Soltan and his clergy decried book-learning as 'un-godly'.
The sacking of Baghdad in 1294, considered by some to be the end of the Middle Ages.
With nothing to protect holy Mecca, the Abbasids hurriedly signed peace. The ancient regime of the Abbasids was finally toppled by the Ayyubids, who quickly went about prostrating themselves to the Turks. A Turkish governor was set up in the new Ayyubid capital, Shiraz, and the Sharifate of Arabia was thus established. The lands of Arabia were in due order exploited by their new masters, whose vassals were, if anything, complaisant to this savagery, after being paid off properly.
Soon thereafter, the defense of Dyrrachium finally broke. The Epirot defenders had been starved half to death due to the constant Turkish siege of their city. The Despot lead his troops in a last-ditch defense, but it was for naught. Epirus now belonged to Mehmet.
It was to be the Soltan's final conquest. He soon died of dysentery (though rumor had it that the cause was, instead, some spurned mistress of his), in the spring of 1301. His son Orhan rose to the throne (such as it was; the seat of the Soltan rarely stayed in one place for long, moving with his horde). Orhan was to be a more prolific conqueror than even his father. Determined to fatten the treasuries of the Osmanoglu even more, he turned his horde north, past the Carpathians, and into German territory. To follow was one of the greatest military upsets in history.
Baibar the Kipchak takes the city of Jerusalem.
The general consensus among historians is that, at around this point, the Caliph finally grasped the gravity of the situation.
A call to arms from the Commander of the Faithful was, naturally, insufficient to successfully curb the wrath of the Turks. Baghdad, the largest and most sophisticated city in the world, was sacked by the Turks, its people slaughtered, wealth taken, and great libraries burned - the Soltan and his clergy decried book-learning as 'un-godly'.
The sacking of Baghdad in 1294, considered by some to be the end of the Middle Ages.
With nothing to protect holy Mecca, the Abbasids hurriedly signed peace. The ancient regime of the Abbasids was finally toppled by the Ayyubids, who quickly went about prostrating themselves to the Turks. A Turkish governor was set up in the new Ayyubid capital, Shiraz, and the Sharifate of Arabia was thus established. The lands of Arabia were in due order exploited by their new masters, whose vassals were, if anything, complaisant to this savagery, after being paid off properly.
Soon thereafter, the defense of Dyrrachium finally broke. The Epirot defenders had been starved half to death due to the constant Turkish siege of their city. The Despot lead his troops in a last-ditch defense, but it was for naught. Epirus now belonged to Mehmet.
It was to be the Soltan's final conquest. He soon died of dysentery (though rumor had it that the cause was, instead, some spurned mistress of his), in the spring of 1301. His son Orhan rose to the throne (such as it was; the seat of the Soltan rarely stayed in one place for long, moving with his horde). Orhan was to be a more prolific conqueror than even his father. Determined to fatten the treasuries of the Osmanoglu even more, he turned his horde north, past the Carpathians, and into German territory. To follow was one of the greatest military upsets in history.
Tomorrow's Dawn
Heroes Never Die
Very interesting, Gruekiller, there hasn't been a good Turks story for awhile now.
Will you pursue the historic Franco-Ottoman Alliance or will they (the French) have
to be crushed beneath the stampeding hooves of your cavalry as well?
Will you pursue the historic Franco-Ottoman Alliance or will they (the French) have
to be crushed beneath the stampeding hooves of your cavalry as well?
Sure! I'll give them a friendly brohoof!
Ten thousand of them.
To their faces.
MaxWar
King
Oh, please, dear followers, I don't need your praise!
Just your cash.
>.>
Just your cash.
>.>
spaceman98
Plotting something
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2010
- Messages
- 3,639
You wanted cash?
Great story!
MaxWar
King
Setzer casts :Coin Toss!
Spoiler :
*pelted with coins*
Even as the battle-hungry Turks crossed into Hungary, a last trace of Rhomania clung to life in the south. The Empire of Morea could trace its ruling family's descent as far back as Augustus and Pyrrhus, and its capital was (making the name of the nation a misnomer) Athens, oldest and proudest of the Greek city states. They could claim most of Greece south of Macedonia as their patrimony, even controlling portions of Crete by sea. The Hellenes hoped to recapture the queen of cities from its vile occupiers and restore not an emperor of the Romans to the throne, but that of the Greeks. Gone were pretensions of Roman glory, replaced instead with the bright (and brief) flame of Greek nationalism.
However, the wily Turks were not so easily contended with as the Greeks hoped. Morean raids into Thrace were quickly crushed, and the once-proud army routed back to the south. A final face-off on the Isthmus of Corinth resulted in a total Turkish victory, with Athens soon after being captured and plundered.
With all of their lands occupied by these steppe barbarians, the Hellenes, the oldest, proudest nationality in all of Europa, no longer existed as a distinct entity. Within a century, their language would be all but extinct. The dream of Alexander and Pericles was forever extinguished, replaced by that of the Turk.
Far to the north, the Turkish advance continued unabated. Droves of Magyar horsemen thrown against the invading force availed nothing. Budapest was soon in the crosshairs of Orhan's army. Driven by the smell of gold and blood, the horde pressed into the Hungarian countryside.
Miscommunication between the Magyar and German elements of the city's defense was to prove fatal; while the defenders bickered in their mutually unintelligible languages, the Turks slipped through the city's walls, killing most of their enemies in a night of butchery and pillaging. Hungary fell shortly thereafter to the Soltan Orhan, who steered his army westward without a hint of pause.
Only now did the Germans appear to realize the extent of their folly. Their undefended mountain passes had let the Turks in, and within a few months, they had already zoned in upon the capital of the Empire, Vienna. Mercenaries from all over Europe frantically poured into the city, as a proper defense was organized; it was to be the only properly-executed defense which was ever to confront the Turks. Despite this fact, however, Orhan was not deterred. The rich city would make a fine source of wealth for his coffers.
A hail of projectiles rained onto the city on the Danube, scattering and disorienting the Christian defenders, followed shortly thereafter by a charge of lancers through the front lines. A final advance of swordsmen was enough to put the Germans into full retreat; the Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick, was forced to flee north to dwell in the courts of the lesser kings within his domain. Vienna, the largest city in central Europe, had fallen to the Turks.
Soon thereafter, the defenseless Venetians surrendered their city. Orhan had the city stripped of every ounce of wealth it had. By now drowning in the gold taken in their conquests, the Turkish armies were merely bolstered again, both by Oriental mercenaries and local recruits. With the Balkans, Austria, and Venetia all under their control, the Turkish Horde controlled the greatest empire Europe had known since Rome itself. Naturally, Orhan saw no reason whatsoever to stop there.
Ottoman territories in Europe following the capture of Vienna and Venice.
The following summer was exceptionally dry, with poor harvests for most of central and western Europe. This was attributed by the West as a continuing sign of God's displeasure with their society, coupled with the invading Turks. Whatever their superstitions, the Turks certainly were like a Scourge for Europe. Their rampage into the civilized world continued despite the weather, prompting Spain to finally take notice of the threat and declare war. Neither nation could yet strike at the other, though a rattling of sabers ensued between the two empires.
The Turks, unfazed by the relatively mild European heat, continued north into Germany. Passing through Bohemia without a fight, Orhan was at last confronted by Edmund, king of the Saxons, outside of Meissen. The king's archers bunkered themselves in the woods, causing the Soltan much consternation. Orhan soon ordered that the Turkish archers return fire, with flaming arrows. The forests of Saxony burned well in the dry heat, smoking Edmund's forces out into the open, where they were slain to a man. Skirting around the inferno now engulfing much of the parched woods and countryside of Saxony, Orhan continued north towards the provincial town of Berlin.
Truly, the huge host of Orhan the Frenzied (as he was titled soon after his invasion of Germany) far outmatched the hopelessly-outnumbered garrison in Berlin. Panicking with his shield to the south (Saxony) decimated, the king of Brandenburg, whom history will forever remember as Karl the Coward, promptly fled his kingdom to take refuge in the court of the Danes, who were to be one of the few European nations left untouched by the Turkish invasions. Berlin, like so many cities before and after it, was captured, after which it fell into relative obscurity. Whatever the case, Berlin was never to be the center of any great empire - particularly so, once the Turks were through with it.
The Turks were, at the time, more concerned with a far more appealing prize, Rome - up until this point known as the Eternal City. The heart of the Catholic church, and seat of the Pope, Rome was now boxed against the sea by the Turks, who had crossed the Straits of Otranto, as well as arrived from Lombardy to the north. The pleas of the Holy Father to the heavens went apparently unheard; the city was taken and pillaged by the Turks, and known as Eternal no longer.
With its capital, core, and spiritual heart torn out, the Holy German Empire's resistance began a swift collapse. Memel on the Baltic was taken a month after Berlin, creating a continuous swath of Turkish-controlled territory from the Aegean to the cold waters of the north. Frankfurt surrendered after a protracted siege, and Hamburg, last refuge of the Emperor, was pinned against the sea and savaged a year later. Emperor Frederick's head was soon displayed on a pike outside of his former capital, now called Viyana.
To call what became of Germany now Turkish 'control' is perhaps inaccurate; these territories were truly lawless, prostrate and helpless at the hands of the Turkish hordes who stopped occasionally by to further pillage and destroy the countryside. By the time of Orhan's death two years later, Germany had lost four-fifths of its population, and was financially and agriculturally barren.
France, already wracked with pestilence brought by the Turks from the East, was soon to suffer the same fate.
However, the wily Turks were not so easily contended with as the Greeks hoped. Morean raids into Thrace were quickly crushed, and the once-proud army routed back to the south. A final face-off on the Isthmus of Corinth resulted in a total Turkish victory, with Athens soon after being captured and plundered.
With all of their lands occupied by these steppe barbarians, the Hellenes, the oldest, proudest nationality in all of Europa, no longer existed as a distinct entity. Within a century, their language would be all but extinct. The dream of Alexander and Pericles was forever extinguished, replaced by that of the Turk.
Far to the north, the Turkish advance continued unabated. Droves of Magyar horsemen thrown against the invading force availed nothing. Budapest was soon in the crosshairs of Orhan's army. Driven by the smell of gold and blood, the horde pressed into the Hungarian countryside.
Miscommunication between the Magyar and German elements of the city's defense was to prove fatal; while the defenders bickered in their mutually unintelligible languages, the Turks slipped through the city's walls, killing most of their enemies in a night of butchery and pillaging. Hungary fell shortly thereafter to the Soltan Orhan, who steered his army westward without a hint of pause.
Only now did the Germans appear to realize the extent of their folly. Their undefended mountain passes had let the Turks in, and within a few months, they had already zoned in upon the capital of the Empire, Vienna. Mercenaries from all over Europe frantically poured into the city, as a proper defense was organized; it was to be the only properly-executed defense which was ever to confront the Turks. Despite this fact, however, Orhan was not deterred. The rich city would make a fine source of wealth for his coffers.
A hail of projectiles rained onto the city on the Danube, scattering and disorienting the Christian defenders, followed shortly thereafter by a charge of lancers through the front lines. A final advance of swordsmen was enough to put the Germans into full retreat; the Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick, was forced to flee north to dwell in the courts of the lesser kings within his domain. Vienna, the largest city in central Europe, had fallen to the Turks.
Soon thereafter, the defenseless Venetians surrendered their city. Orhan had the city stripped of every ounce of wealth it had. By now drowning in the gold taken in their conquests, the Turkish armies were merely bolstered again, both by Oriental mercenaries and local recruits. With the Balkans, Austria, and Venetia all under their control, the Turkish Horde controlled the greatest empire Europe had known since Rome itself. Naturally, Orhan saw no reason whatsoever to stop there.
Ottoman territories in Europe following the capture of Vienna and Venice.
The following summer was exceptionally dry, with poor harvests for most of central and western Europe. This was attributed by the West as a continuing sign of God's displeasure with their society, coupled with the invading Turks. Whatever their superstitions, the Turks certainly were like a Scourge for Europe. Their rampage into the civilized world continued despite the weather, prompting Spain to finally take notice of the threat and declare war. Neither nation could yet strike at the other, though a rattling of sabers ensued between the two empires.
The Turks, unfazed by the relatively mild European heat, continued north into Germany. Passing through Bohemia without a fight, Orhan was at last confronted by Edmund, king of the Saxons, outside of Meissen. The king's archers bunkered themselves in the woods, causing the Soltan much consternation. Orhan soon ordered that the Turkish archers return fire, with flaming arrows. The forests of Saxony burned well in the dry heat, smoking Edmund's forces out into the open, where they were slain to a man. Skirting around the inferno now engulfing much of the parched woods and countryside of Saxony, Orhan continued north towards the provincial town of Berlin.
Truly, the huge host of Orhan the Frenzied (as he was titled soon after his invasion of Germany) far outmatched the hopelessly-outnumbered garrison in Berlin. Panicking with his shield to the south (Saxony) decimated, the king of Brandenburg, whom history will forever remember as Karl the Coward, promptly fled his kingdom to take refuge in the court of the Danes, who were to be one of the few European nations left untouched by the Turkish invasions. Berlin, like so many cities before and after it, was captured, after which it fell into relative obscurity. Whatever the case, Berlin was never to be the center of any great empire - particularly so, once the Turks were through with it.
The Turks were, at the time, more concerned with a far more appealing prize, Rome - up until this point known as the Eternal City. The heart of the Catholic church, and seat of the Pope, Rome was now boxed against the sea by the Turks, who had crossed the Straits of Otranto, as well as arrived from Lombardy to the north. The pleas of the Holy Father to the heavens went apparently unheard; the city was taken and pillaged by the Turks, and known as Eternal no longer.
With its capital, core, and spiritual heart torn out, the Holy German Empire's resistance began a swift collapse. Memel on the Baltic was taken a month after Berlin, creating a continuous swath of Turkish-controlled territory from the Aegean to the cold waters of the north. Frankfurt surrendered after a protracted siege, and Hamburg, last refuge of the Emperor, was pinned against the sea and savaged a year later. Emperor Frederick's head was soon displayed on a pike outside of his former capital, now called Viyana.
To call what became of Germany now Turkish 'control' is perhaps inaccurate; these territories were truly lawless, prostrate and helpless at the hands of the Turkish hordes who stopped occasionally by to further pillage and destroy the countryside. By the time of Orhan's death two years later, Germany had lost four-fifths of its population, and was financially and agriculturally barren.
France, already wracked with pestilence brought by the Turks from the East, was soon to suffer the same fate.
strijder20
Wallowing in irony
You know what's weird? Every city seems to be defended by catapults. No wonder you are raging through Europe this fast.
christos200
Never tell me the odds
Great update. Try to take over the entire europe.
The dumb bastards were warring with each other before I came along. That and the catapults are the last part of their stacks that die, and I generally take screenies of city battles when they're almost won.
