Asmodeus
01-20-2003, 17:31
The fate of an empire in the hands of a spy.
It is the year 1304 and the world is in a turbulent state.
Seventy years earlier the Great Mongol horde swept right across Asia crushing everything that stood against it. The Turks and Byzantines melted away as if they had never existed. Far to the frozen north, the Danes thought little of the rumors that came whispering across the Steppe. King Christopher I of Denmark watched closely the events unfolding with the warring western Catholic powers and had little concern for his eastern neighbor’s plight. The Danish empire had grown in the last century spreading rapidly north into Norway and Sweden then later the Viking long ships crossed the Baltic and invaded Livonia, Finland, Novgorod and Prussia. This formed a powerful bastion in the north and a very lucrative trading base; great fleets of merchant ships made the regular voyage across the North Sea to England or down the coast to France and Spain. Things looked well for the Danes.
But in 1255 the rumors from the Steppe were no more. Signal fires lit up the hills of Novgorod and Livonia and the fastest ship set sail across the Baltic to Sweden with ominous news. There was silence in the Danish King’s court as the anxious herald gave his message.
“The people of Lithuania beg assistance from the great King of Denmark and the North. A Mongol army, numbering many thousands of savage warriors are invading from the east. They have sacked several cities already and pagans show no mercy to prisoners. What remains of our army are besieged and cannot hold out long.”
The King said little and looked deeply concerned. If the Lithuanian army are defeated, what chance for the Danes? And if, or when, Lithuania falls, where next for the Mongols? Novgorod? Livonia? Even across the Baltic?
The wealth of the Danes was put to good use and new armies of Vikings, Archers, Crossbowmen and Cavalry were formed. Spies were sent to Lithuania to observe the siege but when they arrived the castle was but a smoldering ruin, its walls ringed with the bodies 600 soldiers impaled on stakes. Fear spread like the wind and the people fled.
But the Mongols had many enemies and were not in any hurry to war with the Danes. Further south they ravished the Poles and Hungarians. The French lost interest in their war with England and send a vast army of knights to guard their eastern borders, but none dared to openly defy the great Khan. Germany and Italy (greatly reduced since the last century) did their best to arm themselves and prayed to go unnoticed.
Decades passed. The Polish and Hungarian empires were destroyed. The Mongols seemed satisfied with their glorious victories and Europe let out a collective sigh of relief. The tide, it seemed, had stopped. In 1270 the great Khan died and his eldest son, if anything a more murderous and uncompromising man than his father, took control of the Horde. But still all was quiet and France resumed its relentless war with England.
Then in 1298, without any warning at all, two huge armies invaded Novgorod and Livonia. The intervening years of armament paid off when in that fateful year both attacks were repulsed – at the cost of many hundred Danish warriors. Great fires were lit, festivals, rejoicing across the empire. The Kings of France and Spain sent their warmest regards to the Danes and regarded their army with a new respect. The Danes no longer felt terror of the Mongols.
But the celebrations were to be short lived. The following year an army marched from Novgorod to fight the Mongols in Lithuania. The battle faired well at first. The Danish archers and crossbowmen kept the Mongol cavalry at bay and catapults ripped great holes in the close packed foot soldiers. The Vikings beat their shields and roared at their savage enemy. But then the Mongols unleashed their heavy Cavalry. The field thundered with hooves and then an almighty crash as they slammed into the Danish line. Panic spread, the line broke and the rest of that terrible day was marked with screams as those who fled were overtaken and cut down by Mongol riders. Only 200 men returned alive.
Every year after the Mongols returned, ruthless, fanatical and terrifying. Each time the attacks were repulsed at the loss of many Danes and with each ‘victory’ came the prospect of defeat the following year.
But this year, 1304, salvation came from a completely unexpected direction. The Danish King sent many spies into the Mongol’s territories to give good warning when attacks looked imminent. One of these spies, in a highly risky and desperate act for his country, uncovered treasonous information about the terrible Khan himself. Risking his life, he took evidence of this blackmail and treason to the Mongols chief generals and the scandal spread like wild fire.
The next year, civil war broke out. Uprisings and unrest throughout Asia. The Khan was slain in battle by his previously most senior general and when news of the Khan’s death spread, complete anarchy and infighting swept across the whole Mongol empire. Now the full fury of Catholic powers was unleashed and the Danish, French and Italian armies drove what remained of the Horde out of Europe right back into Asia – never to be seen again. Not a Mongol warrior was spared the sword as the Western powers took bloody revenge for 80 years of tyranny.
The spy that defeated the Khan now lives in luxury at his Swedish Castle with all the hand maidens he desires http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
It is the year 1304 and the world is in a turbulent state.
Seventy years earlier the Great Mongol horde swept right across Asia crushing everything that stood against it. The Turks and Byzantines melted away as if they had never existed. Far to the frozen north, the Danes thought little of the rumors that came whispering across the Steppe. King Christopher I of Denmark watched closely the events unfolding with the warring western Catholic powers and had little concern for his eastern neighbor’s plight. The Danish empire had grown in the last century spreading rapidly north into Norway and Sweden then later the Viking long ships crossed the Baltic and invaded Livonia, Finland, Novgorod and Prussia. This formed a powerful bastion in the north and a very lucrative trading base; great fleets of merchant ships made the regular voyage across the North Sea to England or down the coast to France and Spain. Things looked well for the Danes.
But in 1255 the rumors from the Steppe were no more. Signal fires lit up the hills of Novgorod and Livonia and the fastest ship set sail across the Baltic to Sweden with ominous news. There was silence in the Danish King’s court as the anxious herald gave his message.
“The people of Lithuania beg assistance from the great King of Denmark and the North. A Mongol army, numbering many thousands of savage warriors are invading from the east. They have sacked several cities already and pagans show no mercy to prisoners. What remains of our army are besieged and cannot hold out long.”
The King said little and looked deeply concerned. If the Lithuanian army are defeated, what chance for the Danes? And if, or when, Lithuania falls, where next for the Mongols? Novgorod? Livonia? Even across the Baltic?
The wealth of the Danes was put to good use and new armies of Vikings, Archers, Crossbowmen and Cavalry were formed. Spies were sent to Lithuania to observe the siege but when they arrived the castle was but a smoldering ruin, its walls ringed with the bodies 600 soldiers impaled on stakes. Fear spread like the wind and the people fled.
But the Mongols had many enemies and were not in any hurry to war with the Danes. Further south they ravished the Poles and Hungarians. The French lost interest in their war with England and send a vast army of knights to guard their eastern borders, but none dared to openly defy the great Khan. Germany and Italy (greatly reduced since the last century) did their best to arm themselves and prayed to go unnoticed.
Decades passed. The Polish and Hungarian empires were destroyed. The Mongols seemed satisfied with their glorious victories and Europe let out a collective sigh of relief. The tide, it seemed, had stopped. In 1270 the great Khan died and his eldest son, if anything a more murderous and uncompromising man than his father, took control of the Horde. But still all was quiet and France resumed its relentless war with England.
Then in 1298, without any warning at all, two huge armies invaded Novgorod and Livonia. The intervening years of armament paid off when in that fateful year both attacks were repulsed – at the cost of many hundred Danish warriors. Great fires were lit, festivals, rejoicing across the empire. The Kings of France and Spain sent their warmest regards to the Danes and regarded their army with a new respect. The Danes no longer felt terror of the Mongols.
But the celebrations were to be short lived. The following year an army marched from Novgorod to fight the Mongols in Lithuania. The battle faired well at first. The Danish archers and crossbowmen kept the Mongol cavalry at bay and catapults ripped great holes in the close packed foot soldiers. The Vikings beat their shields and roared at their savage enemy. But then the Mongols unleashed their heavy Cavalry. The field thundered with hooves and then an almighty crash as they slammed into the Danish line. Panic spread, the line broke and the rest of that terrible day was marked with screams as those who fled were overtaken and cut down by Mongol riders. Only 200 men returned alive.
Every year after the Mongols returned, ruthless, fanatical and terrifying. Each time the attacks were repulsed at the loss of many Danes and with each ‘victory’ came the prospect of defeat the following year.
But this year, 1304, salvation came from a completely unexpected direction. The Danish King sent many spies into the Mongol’s territories to give good warning when attacks looked imminent. One of these spies, in a highly risky and desperate act for his country, uncovered treasonous information about the terrible Khan himself. Risking his life, he took evidence of this blackmail and treason to the Mongols chief generals and the scandal spread like wild fire.
The next year, civil war broke out. Uprisings and unrest throughout Asia. The Khan was slain in battle by his previously most senior general and when news of the Khan’s death spread, complete anarchy and infighting swept across the whole Mongol empire. Now the full fury of Catholic powers was unleashed and the Danish, French and Italian armies drove what remained of the Horde out of Europe right back into Asia – never to be seen again. Not a Mongol warrior was spared the sword as the Western powers took bloody revenge for 80 years of tyranny.
The spy that defeated the Khan now lives in luxury at his Swedish Castle with all the hand maidens he desires http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif