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Seeing as the Chancellor and myself would already be in the army, I think it would be more appropriate if Jens stays with you. But I leave it up to the Chancellor to figure out what works best for him. Plus, I do not intend to take command of the supporting army as I believe Chancellor Matthias is doing splendid. I just want to be in on it.
(OOC: we have the 2 general per stack rule to worry about)
Jens Hummel:
Just put me in the spot that allows me to kill the most people.
While I am confident that I can lead us to victory, I am rather wary of having all of you to watch out for on the field, which limits my use of cavalry to guard and flank the enemy.
As you may understand, I would not wish to see more nobles die in Outremer.
Count Hans, I am fully confident in your skills as a general. I have no doubt that you will see us through. The Mongols have taken much from us and I do not wish to be left out. Again, this is all up to the Chancellor's discretion but these are my thoughts.
(OOC: If Jan dies, he dies. Its part of the game and I don't mind. Wanting to fight in this battle makes IC sense. Plus, Jan has a couple of "courage" traits and he would not like to be sitting in Edessa while the fighting is going on. :D )
If you then so wish, I will be honored to have you at my side during battle. In the meantime, I will review the troops nearby and make some suggestions on troop composition, if Matthias does not mind.
Speaking of whom, does he wish to ride into battle with us as well?
From my thinking, you would take the main army with Jens at your side. Matthias would take the supporting army with me at his. Again, these are just my thoughts on the matter and it will be up to the Chancellor to decide what we do.
I have had a look at maps and reports on mercenaries now and would propose the following:
Have Dieter hire 2 regiments of Unhorsed knights to join me while I give him two green footknights with rusty weapons.
Then I will move closer to the chancellor's position, where I will exchange most my green missiles for his experienced ones, and exchange my regiment of Gothic knights for his full strength regiment of Teutons, as well as exchange several footknight regiments.
This means that most units you will lead in the reinforcement unit are inexperienced, but that will be fine as by that time the Mongols will not have many soldiers left, and the mere sight of fresh regiments may strike fear into their hearts.
This allows more experienced troops to hold a strategic location in case reinforcements are delayed as well.
According to my calculations, this should just about allow us to assault them this year still, although the troops will need to be force marched that way.
As reinforcement unit, I would suggest Jan leading 5 regiments of pavisers and 2 regiments of sergeants. I won't need more I believe, and this allows the chancellor to strike again with a full army in case my attack fails. That said, I do not expect the chancellor to join your reinforcements, as at least one crusader should be alive by the end of the year.
OOC: OK Currently has given me 1 more knight unit than I am allowed and this exchange would still keep it that way. If that is a problem, I can exchange a regiment of footknights for a sergeant regiment.
I am fine with a plan of this type. I admire your attention to detail. I do assume though that the Chancellor would like to be in on the battle.
And, we are only to give suggestions. He is the one that will make the final decision regarding this matter.
I definately need to see battle again soon, the Mongols are nearly all gone and I have only fought them once!
You may have to sit this one out Dieter. Hans and Jens are leaving soon so I have given preference to them to be in the frontal assault. Plus, Jens needs to get knighted and you already are. When they leave, there will be more opportunities for you. With Turks probing our lines to the north, and Saracens around Jerusalem to the south, there will be plenty to do. We have a standing rule where we do not allow too many nobles in an army. It prevents us from taking too big of a hit if something catastrophic happens. (OOC: Its more of an OOC rule to balance out the armies and make them more "historic".) I myself had to sit out the whole second Mongol wave because my father didn't want to lose too much of the family line at once. I know its frustrating because I've been there.
But again, this is more up to the Chancellor as he makes the final decision.
Fellow Crusaders,
The Mongols have been defeated once again. But not without a price. Count Jens fell in battle to a Mongol arrow. He fought valiently but he was struck down by a simple arrow. The young lad had many fine years ahead of him and I do believe that he was on to bigger and better things in his life. It is a tradgedy that such things occur but this is war and Count Jens did ask to be included in the battle. Now, we have a chance to breath a little and rebuild out here.
I ask that a moment of silence be observed out of respect for Count Jens.
*A battleweary and guilt-stricken Hans observes a moment of silence with Jan*
Time passes...
Elberhard: @#$%^&!!! it, Hans, you took a bold chance and it bit us on the @#$%^&!!!er. Poor Count Jens' death is a warning. Outremer is fast losing generals and bleeding support back home. We cannot afford many more such victories.
I say this from a not wholly disinterested point of view, having barely escaped disaster in Jerusalem. Although on paper, the Papal army and ours outnumbered the Egyptians 3:1, this reckoning did not make sufficient allowance for the quality of the Egyptian army, which included eight regiments of Tabardariyya and two of Mameluks. My army lacked any heavy infantry, beyond armoured sergeants. The Egyptians cut their way through our Papal allies and utterly routed them. Only by the grace of God were we able to turn the tables on them.
https://img130.imageshack.us/img130/1097/12841mg0.jpg
I would ask the King and the Chancellor to read the reports of the Egyptian forces mustering in Acre. They appear to have learnt from the Mongols and are marshalling a significant force of high quality horse archers, along with other forces. My army needs significant reinforcements if I am to be able to stand against them in the next couple of years. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on our Papal allies to pull their weight.
Specifically, my mercenary captain reports two regiments of unhorsed crusader knights offering their services in Jerusalem. I request that the Chancellor recruit them. They are arguably the finest heavy infantry available to us and cost little upfront, although their upkeep is commensurate with their exceptional prowess.
Good job my Prince. We can not expect the Papacy to protect itself against so many enemies. It is up to us to be active guardians of Jerusalem. With the Mongols gone, there is no excuse to not have one of the two AoO's in the area at all times. Protecting Jerusalem is one of the main reasons were even over here so we can not be caught distracted somewhere else ever again. My thinking is to have one AoO up north patrolling Adana, Aleppo, and Edessa. And the other down south patrolling Acre, Damascus, and even sometimes camped out around Jerusalem. The Prince's army can be where ever he deems fit because it is his army.
I congratulate you on your victory Prinz Elberhard. It is unfortunate the Papal States took such losses, but it is far better than losing the city and the entire garrison.
As I have said before, the forces commited to the effort against the Mongols will be redispersed to the two armies of Outremer and the Prinz's army.
It will take a few years for these forces to fully reach you mein Prinz. If the Saracens assault Jerusalem again in the interim, I will consider your proposal concerning the unhorsed knights.
As for the disposition of the armies. I envisioned an army near Adana, to counter the Turks, one near Aleppo to respond to threats to Edessa and Damascus, and the Prinz's army based around Acre, to protect Jerusalem and our southern border. This disposition allows each army to support it's neighbor if needed, particularly if we rebuild the fleet based out of Antioch once Hans leaves.
I believe the two regiments of unhorsed knights that I recruited before the earlier battle are still relatively unscathed and could be used to reinforce the southern part of Outremer. We could use the available regiments to fill their ranks.
As for Jens' death you can ask any of the men that were with me at the time how hard it struck me to suddenly see him fall and not being able to do anything about it. It is most unfortunate, and I have expressed my condolences to his family and our house, but he did die to bring safety to Outremer, and I believe all of us here would do the same if it made the empire any safer.
The unhorsed knights were disbanded shortly after the last battle with the Mongols. They are fine troops but expensive to keep in the field. If needed, we can recruit them again, as the Prinz has proposed.
The death of Jens Hummel was highly regrettable, particularly since it occurred after Count Hans had already attained victory, but such are the fortunes of battle.
Oh, regarding the forces you will be taking with you on your voyage home Count Hans. You may keep the Gothic Knights with you, but the Chivalric Knights are needed in Outremer. They will be staying.
You are not the only one capable of unique interpretations of orders, or as in this case, requests.
I do not believe I have any chivalric knights with me as far as I am aware. The only forces I took with me after the battle were my loyal guard feudal knights and a regiment of gothic knights I had recruited at Sofia.
If you need to retain one, I would prefer it be the gothic knights.
I'd rather see one AoO up north. And one down south. I know I didn't issue official orders at the beginning of the term but these are my preferences. I envision the Prince's army as his own personal army, to be used as he sees fit. I do not believe it is fair to tie him down with a whole front to guard. He is doing us a favor, not the other way around. Therefore, I wish for him to have maximum flexibility while he is in Outremer. But of course, if he himself wished the honor of guarding Jerusalem, that is up to him and I would support it wholeheartedly. I just want these to be his own decisions, not ours. We'll tell him what we need, and he can figure out how best to help.
I was merely thinking out loud earlier, King Jan. Prinz Elberhard's domain in Outremer is Acre, or at least it should be as the Swabian possesion, and it would serve as a natrual base for him and his army.
If this is not the case, I would suggest basing one Outremer army at Aleppo, where it could shift between Adana and Edessa, and one at Acre, which could shift between Jerusalem and Damascus.
I would still prefer my first proposal, but we shall see.
Acre, and the defence of Jerusalem, would be a fine posting for the Prinz's army.
Then that works for me. Since the Prince wishes to protect Jerusalem, I approve of the Chancellor's plan for the distribution of the AoO's. And Chancellor, I know you were just airing your thoughts. Thats what this hall is for. And I was airing my own. I do not wish to see us considering the Prince's army as a "third AoO" because that is not what it is. While I fully welcome the Prince's prescence in Outremer, I do not wish for us to ever take his prescence for granted. While he may be a Crusader Count, his army falls under his command, not mine. If any Chancellor wishes to control the Prince's movements, that is between the Prince and the Chancellor. But I will never interefere with the Prince's movements and I would urge every Chancellor to follow suit.
Like I said earlier, the procedure I envision is to make clear the strategic situation to the Prince, and let him decide what he wants to do about it like he did in this situation.
King Jan, the reorganization of the Outremer forces into the three main Armies should be complete within 2-4 years.
Prinz Elberhard, three units of DFKs and a unit of pavise crossbowmen will arive in Acre in 1286, joining the crossbowmen and Teutonic Knights already there. I am also recruiting another unit of spearmen. I will also add, if you wish, one or two units of mounted crossbowmen. For now, you and your small army are camped west of Jerusalem under the shadow of the walls.
You should soon have all the men you need to repulse another Saracen attack on Jerusalem if it comes.
Excellent...excellent.
How are the Turks behaving up to our north?
OOC: I'm at work and have school afterwards. Will not be able to look at the save until late tonight.
Chancellor - sorry, boss, but I @#$%^&!!!ed up:
https://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9697/12861sw7.jpg
I attacked at night, but they got they drop on me - wrecked one of my regiments of armoured sergeants.
Al Muazzam fought so bravely, I let the man go. To be honest, his men are so spooked by his defeats, I don't think he will be an asset to his side. The @#$%^&!!!er was not grateful though.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
About the army, some mounted crossbowmen would be handy. I don't place much store by their shooting, but their speed would be useful in hunting down routers.
Karl Zirn:
I would agree with Prince Elberhard he is a difficult foe. He caused me great grief with his small force besieging Damascus. The Egyptian knows nothing of the chilvary code and to quote the Prince "he is an ungrateful SOB".
I will not be so honourable the next time our forces we meet.
You survived Prinz Elberhard, after our losses of recent years, that is enough to celebrate.
I agree with the Chancellor. Its better that you lived to fight him another day.
I'd like to remind everyone here that the chivalry code is what sets us apart from the others that we fight. It should be upheld despite the actions of our enemies. I know I relaxed certain standards during the war with the Mongols, because our very survival was at stake, but I am tightening them back up. Full out execution will be severely frowned upon. Ransoming is preferable to execution. But, releasing men captured after battle is preferred above all, in order that they learn the error of their ways and convert to the one true God. While it has been brought to my attention privately that these decisions are up to each army commander, I will remind all of you, with the exception of the Prince, that whether you get an army command is up to me. There are no strict guidelines because I respect that there needs to be some "flexibility" to allow for strategic reality. But, if I see a trend in one way instead of the other, you will find yourself sitting in your settlement for quite some time.
Am I clear?
Karl Zirn:
With all do respect King Jan your remarks need not be directed to me about chivalry and honour. My reputation is above reproach. I will dictate the need to what means necessary to defend my honour on the battlefield.
General al Muazzam has no honour and should I meet with him again his own actions will dictate his end. I do not care for the common enemy soldier after the battle they are of their own freewill. I am not in the slave trade and will not barter them for money.
With all due respect Count Zirn, I am telling you how I am running things out here. While you retain the choice of what happens on the battlefield, I am informing you that certain choices will have certain consequences. Would you rather that I not have stated this clearly? Your the one that started this conversation about how to treat others. While your reputation is certainly beyond reproach, your latest words have caused me concern. How we treat people has nothing to do with their honor and everything to do with our own.
Feel free to write to me personally if any of this remains unclear or if you still have concerns.