Chapter 10: First system city (Part 1)
Chapter 10: First system city (Part 1)
After reading the letter from the spy I began to move sending messengers back to Abydos for food and supplies, planning to settle in here in Serres for at least a week or more. Then Evrenos Bey was sent to collect the various navies I scattered into a fighting force ready to siege. Now we just wait...
In Adrianople, John Kantakouzenos former regent of the byzantine empire and now current rebel emperor is talking with his military advisers on the war with the Turks who have recently for some reason become aggressive in the eyes of John. Whilst they were talking, they decided to bring in a few survivors of the great raids. Soon many a man were entering the room some wounded some untouched some missing limbs and fingers looking very tragic.
"My dear soldiers, I would like to hear how these Turkmen battled with you. Could you possibly recount your experience on the battlefield..." John said to the crowd of injured and maimed men.
The first man to step up was a former commander of a small town that was set upon by the vicious Turkmen. He then stated "My lord, I have to say I was beset upon by a standard horde of the Turks except there were many there were at least a thousand horsemen outside my fief. But there was a small difference about such a horde the first valley of arrows that was loosed upon us, after landing these arrows... My lord they...
They turned into a fire dragon they made a loud boom and buildings and men alike started to lose parts of themselves and fires began to spread at a rapid pace... I had no choice but to surrender for fear of a savage massacre." As the man spoke you could see the confusion and pain in his eyes a veteran of many wars have nearly cracked under the stresses of such a loss.
The next man stepped up and said he had an open-field battle with a unit of Turkmen whose discipline and ferocity he has never seen. he said "The Turkmen I battled with my lord were like any other I have seen in my lifetime, man and horse alike wore armor from head to toe, not a piece of skin or their faces could be seen.
They set down on us their hooves rumbling the ground, the man beside me wet his pants before they were even within a hundred yards of our position, we had no choice but to battle. In this battle under my command, there were no less than 300 men, and in no time at all, we were beset by these demonic Turkmen.
Who crushed my men under their heel with such vulgarity my men lost the will to fight after their first charge. My lord there were only maybe 30 or 40 Turkmen, and they began to capture or kill my entire squadron and shamefully I escaped at such a moment.
After about 10 separate testimonies from all over Trace, John seemed to have a good idea of the Turkish forces, but this did not help him this just made his atmosphere even more depressing. Following these testimonies John sent a messenger to Constantinople wishing to stop their squabbles to deal with these Turkmen they would need all the forces they could muster, or they could lose all their lands.
He also sent a messenger to their former fortresses outside Adrianople hoping this letter could reach one of the Turkmen leaders so he can officially enter negotiations for peace, and the return of the stolen lands he is willing to pay a price of course...
We have been stationed here in Serres for 3 days now, and I can honestly say Macedonia is very rich. I have had ample time to survey the land and the mines the former occupants considered empty, or well they considered the mines to be closed as they could not reach any deeper into them as they could not remove the water that is flooding the lower part of the mining area. But once I get my hands on Thessalonica which should already be considered a huge city by the system, I will be able to get these unused mines operational again.
There are many gold mines here in the closest area surrounding Thessalonica, but that is not all there are several different minerals here that any country would want. These minerals are for one copper which is something that I lack right now as I only have an iron mine that can get some copper but not enough to supply my needs.
The other big deal mineral is silver which is something I consider a necessary mineral as I would like to produce the world's most secure currency, right now the Byzantines hold the title of most secure currency. And I would like to carry the roman tradition instead of relinquishing this right to Florence or Venice shortly, I would like to have the majority of the known world acknowledge my coin and only wish to trade in my coins.
This coinage or monetary system is number one or two on my list of overall goals in my life I want to have established a currency that is not only stable but widely accepted. The reason I want Thessalonica is precisely that they have been known to not only be a major producer of gold but also a renowned hoarder of it as well.
Romans have been known as the world's best coin producers for centuries and many have always speculated where they have gotten their gold since they lost their middle eastern and African lands, some say they hoard gold in Thessalonica from the old golden age of Rome and some say it is mined and produced there and many like me... Say it is both.
Just as I finished running through my inner thoughts, my diplomat came in and announced there was a letter for me that made its way to him as it was a letter of diplomacy from the Byzantines. he then said, "my lord, this letter is a letter of the byzantine emperor John Kantakouzenos is intent to start negotiations he also states a few terms that are impossible to accept on our side, but it is just to open the lines of communication between the two countries I assume."
then I asked my diplomat "so has he sent a letter to Constantinople as well? I did not want the two sides to reconcile on my behalf honestly, I wanted them to fight each other but my greed for Thessalonica is getting the better of me, making me want to prolong the peace talks to allow me to capture the city first, clearly provoking the young emperor's regency in Constantinople to do something drastic. I know it is a hard task but is it possible to have these two sides stay at odds while also becoming a giant enemy to both of them in the process?" I had to ask my diplomat I mean what else are they here for other than external affairs management?
My diplomat replied quickly showing he was also prepared for such a question, making me take a liking to his character. He answered me with "my bey, I hear when they declared the former regent a traitor, they captured all his supporters and family members not even sparing his old mother. From what our spies say they are all held in a new prison made for nobles, but that is not true they are being held in terrible conditions as if it was any normal prison for true criminals.
If we can somehow spread this information deliberately amongst the peoples of Constantinople it will reach the ears of the rebel John. They say a man will always put his family before the country we know the family comes before politics, and he will for sure lose a lot of patience when he hears the way his old mother is held. This will be our primary means of protecting ourselves from battle with these roman forces and stopping them from colluding." This is genius, any ruler who doesn't take sober advice from their subjects is insane.
I of course gave him the go-ahead and authorization to work injunction with the information and propaganda network. Our network is actually not hard to expand considering how many people are unhappy with the current rulership and how thin their pockets have become so passing some gold will usually do the trick and some even become my supporters. Believe it or not, my mother is a byzantine princess she is the daughter of Andronikos II one of the longest-reigning emperors.
He had a lot of supporters but he was practically ousted in the later part of his rule by his crazy nephew Andronikos III, who won the support of the younger nobles by claiming he would win the lands of Anatolia back for the empire and put a stop to the Turks... Well, we can see how well that went in his lifetime, it did not go well.
Like I was saying my mother is a princess with ample supporters of the elder generations and their kin, these men now support me in my bid for hegemony over the byzantine empire and the ottoman state as I am the sole heir in the line of Andronikos II and also can claim to have an imperial heritage and bloodline.
Bloodlines and heritage, these two factors bring claims, and with claims I can without conflicting with the local populace take a city or region... Now a conquest for a region such as Macedonia and a city such as Thessalonica is a great way to stake my claim on this dying empire... Once I have my hands on the city, I can state my claims and heritage as my mother is the beautiful proof of my claim to the byzantine throne and the lands therein, as the Byzantines have laws where women can indeed pass down noble blood.
Whereas in the Turkish tradition, the daughters of a ruler are indeed noble, but their children are not nobles of their grandfather's state this is not to say they are treated badly or unfairly they just have no legal claims to their grandfather's lands. But I will probably hold back on staking my claim to the entire Byzantine empire as I do not want to participate in this civil war. I just want to ease my rule over the Roman population in the Macedonian region.
But without pushing the two emperors of the empire into moving their forces toward me as a 3rd player in their civil war, I just want to assert to all Romans under my rule that I am true of noble blood and character and will not mistreat or abuse my citizens and everyone will live under the same law.
Once my diplomat left, I began to send more orders, and these included moving the navy which was scattered in various ports to form a fleet and meet near Thessaloniki. I ordered them to assemble or acquire enough transport ships to carry my army to Thessalonica from the sea. These orders were sent 3 days ago, and now we see a good bit of our ships arriving in a harbor at the nearest coast to Serres, So I began arranging the army.
I ordered all the tribesmen in this area to wait outside the city, they are ordered to capture any escaping forces and to assist in the attack of the city if the opportunity presents itself, these horsemen will be led by a local Bey by the name of Geser Khan. This Geser Khan is not a Turk he is Mongolian but still Islamic, his tribe migrated from the Illkhanates lands into Anatolia nearly 40 years ago.
Then they made their way to my lands not too long ago after hearing about the conquests happening here, But the special thing about his family is he has a distant relation with Genghis Khan, so his family gets to use the title of Khan. I will have the elite army on the sea led by me once we strike land, and the navy of course will be led by Evrenos Bey.
After waiting a few more days my fleet arrived, now I do need to say the fleet I am using for this conquest is the same fleet from the Gallipoli conquest, and the ships from that time that were still being modified are all now permanently stationed as garrison ships near my coastal forts guarding the strait and the seas nearest that area.
But arriving with the fleet and transport ships are my recruits from Abydos and Canakkale, there are 2 units of Janissary Varangian Guard and 2 units of Ottoman Hybrid archer, this brings my elite units to a total of 1,890 for just the system units but with the addition of elite trained local units that number climbs to 3,330.
So, for this operation, we will have the upper hand in training and armor... The numbers of defenders are to be determined as I do not know exactly how many enemies will truly fight. So, let's estimate it near 5000 if they manage to raise the city militia, and the number of garrisoned troops in the city is around 600 of that 5000 number. After a brief march, we are finally loading everyone and everything onto our ships ready to put our lives on the line for the conquest of this beautiful city.
*Knock Knock*
After some time of zoning out, I heard someone knock on the door of my quarters on the flagship, "Who is it?" I asked.
"My lord it is I, Evrenos Bey I am here to tell you we are within viewing distance of their port walls, and we are ready to begin the shelling of the walls to cover your advance into the port," Evrenos bey said this as he was still outside the door, so I got up and went onto the deck to meet him.
After walking out the door I said, "And where are the transports are they ready to row into the port?"
"Yes, they are in position just waiting for your command and for you to hop on your designated ship lord." He replied whilst still holding a humble posture
"Events I trust you will keep the defender's heads down long enough for us to arrive safely and without interference, but I still must say make sure to aim the cannons up so as not to kill me or my men with a stray cannonball," I said whilst chuckling and hopping into the row boat.
These transports were designed by me to allow my men to get on them not only with themselves and equipment but also with their horses and to allow some protection against arrows and various missile fires.
They have small sails to help with the moving of these boats housing horses, men, and equipment If I wanted to move such a ship with just oars it would be extremely taxing for the slaves powering these ships. After adjusting myself I commanded all the ships around me "We move forward and reach the port before the defenders get some sense and try to stop us from getting into position! My men row, row, row If you want to live Row! Our success depends on our speed."
Soon after my command was given the sounds of the cannons were all that could be heard *BOOM BOOM BOOM* As we moved further and further away from the source of the thunderous noise we could see the faces of the citizens at the port.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Host : Şehzade Alaeddin
Dynasty: Osmanli (Ottoman)
Current Allegience: Ottoman Sultanate
Owned Fiefs: Abydos Sanjak, Karasi Sanjak, Thrace Sanjak (Partial)
Gold: 25,990 ducats
Tax Income: 4600 ducats
(23% Tax Bonus) (20% bonus on mining income in all owned mines)
Trade Income: 580 ducats (before upgrade 119 ducats)
(19% Trade Bonus for all system merchants)
Upkeep: 5000 ducats (Army 2500, Navy 2500, local forces included in upkeep)
Priests: 2 (available 0)
Merchants: 2 (available 0)
Spies:2 (available 0)
Diplomat: 2 (Avaliable 0)
Assassins: 2 (avaliable 0)
Expand Income Details +
Expand Recruitment Details +
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Traits: Admirer Of Beauty -2 Command, 10% decrease to cost to bribe, -1 from squalor (increases public order and population growth)
Officer Training +2 Command
Inspirationally Brave +1 Authority, +4 Morale for all troops on the battlefield
Cheapskate 10% discount on construction costs, 10% bonus on tax income (decreases population growth and public order)
Very Cultured +1 Authority, +2 to popularity (improves public order)
Steppe Legacy 20% bonus to cash gained from looting.
Harsh Taskmaster +1 Command, +1 Authority, -1 Morale for all troops on the battlefield, +20% to Movement Points (gives armies the ability to forced march), +1 to law (improves public order)
Legacy of Dread +2 Dread
Social Drinker +1 Command, +1 to popularity (improves public order)
Blessed With Vigor +2 Authority, +25% to Movement Points (gives armies the ability to forced march)
Father's Legacy (Level 2) +2 Authority
Generous 2% penalty on tax income
Womanizer +1 Morale for all troops on the battlefield
Budding Bureaucrat 4% bonus on all trade income, +1 to law (improves public order)
Aspiring Commander +2 Command
Engineer +2 Command when assaulting walls, +60 Build Points (required for the construction of siege equipment)
Mining Knowledge 20% bonus on mining income
Good with Taxes 10% bonus on tax income
Physically Flawless -1 Command, +1 Authority, +4 to popularity (improves public order)
Intelligent +2 Command, 5% bonus on all trade income, 5% bonus on tax income.
Reasonable Ruler +1 Chivalry, -1 from squalor (increases public order and population growth)
Bends the Truth -1 Authority
Understands Logistics +1 Morale for all troops on the battlefield, +15% to Movement Points (gives armies the ability to forced march)
Good at Math +1 Command when assaulting walls 10% bonus on all trade.
Stoic +1 Loyalty, 200% increase to cost to bribe.
Promising Strategist +1 Command
Honorable Ruler +4 Chivalry, +2 Authority
Tactically Sound +3 Command when ambushing, +2 to line of sight (increases the range at which enemies are spotted)
Tolerant to Foreigners -1 from public security (reduces the chances of detecting and capturing enemy agents)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Command<4> Ambusher Bonus +3 Attacking Walls +2
Authority<9>
Dread<2>
chivalry<5>
Moral Bonus +5
Movement Speed +60%
Tax Bonus +23% (20% bonus on mining income) (All owned Settlements)
Public Order Bonus +10 (When in Province)
Population Growth Bonus + 2% (All Owned Settlement)