M2 HRE Test Imperial Diet Deliberations

I agree with the fine words of Duke Otto of Innsbruck regarding our mutual weakness currently. It will be a difficult balance to find, regarding how much of our collective income to devote to the hiring of mercenaries and how much to use to increase our capabilities in defence as well as attack.

That can be worked out, though. What we most need is these rebels dealt with at the present time! An outrider from my sergeants said they had nearly been waylaid by these miserable scum, and my merchants are beginning to feel nervous about their trains being intercepted, or worse, the halt of all trade along that stretch of road.

So, what say you, that we combine our three bodyguards, hire some decent spearmen, and trounce these blaggards? I would suggest that, though they are poorly trained, some of my archers could add some ability to soften the enemy before the melee begins in earnest.

Yours, in god,
Leopold

I am afraid I can give little aid to the German Dukes, tied up as I am by Papal matters.

Speaking of which, Chancellor Diettrich, I think our disputes with Pope Gregory should be resolved on a short term. I understand his worldly envoys are enroute to Bologna as you read this message, and I fear they only spearhead the ecclesiastical envoys.
The sooner we get rid of that powergrabbing usurper, the better.
I believe our own Cardinal Peter, known as the Rightious for good reason, would be a far better occupant of St. Peter's Throne.

With this in mind, what are your thoughts on a campaign against Florence?
It is still an independ republic, with no ties to either Milan, Venice or the Papal States, and even more convenient, it would give us an excellent excuse to have an army at a day's march from Rome.
I'v received reports that both the Duke of Milan as the Doge of Venice are looking outwards of Italy for expansion, so if we strike within two years, we should be able to take Florence without much trouble.

By the grace of God,
Emperor Heinrich

I don't think the hiring of such a large mercenary force when our own defences are so minimal may be the best course of action.

Mercenaries are expensive to hire and maintain, while localised militia could do the same job at much less cost. May I suggest then instead that Duke Otto lead this combined force, and that Duke's Maxamillian and Leopold instead provide 2 units each of their choosing, plus the mounted sargeants. To replace the troops loaned to this army. I think the Imperial coffers could pay for the purchase of 2 units of town militia for Max and Leopold, whose upkeep thereafter would be free.

To the Dukes Otto and Maximillian:

I have given orders to most of my troops stationed in Vienna to move to within striking distance of the rebels. My merchants cannot abide their presence any longer. I cannot take them on alone, however, so your decisions regarding what forces you wish to send will be very warmly received.

Emperor Heinrich , forgive me, in the confusion I overlooked your remarks on Florence. I do believe emperor that the taking of Florence could be very convenient for alleviating the burden on your coffers, and furthering our hold in Italy as well. May I suggest though that you not place too much trust in those Italian dogs, and make sure you have some militia willing to guard Bologna while you lead the rest of the army on campaign. Some willing troops, town guard if need be, just to keep the peace, and content enough in their civic duty and ducal living arrangements that they won't cost us any further upkeep.

Aside from that, let the florins of Florence spill their wealth into your coffers my lord.

To Duke Leopold, I answer the call and will ride immediately towards Nuremburg to hasten the formation of an army.

Regretfully, I can only contribute one archer as my finances - and hence my forces - are meagre.

I request that Duke Maximillian join us and bring at least one archer and one spearman (I realise that will entail recruitment).

I have reviewed the strength of our enemies and propose the following battleplan.

We should use our cavalry aggressively to seek to separate the Hussites from the rest of the rebels and then ride them down.

If we are successful in that, we should then use our archers to shoot down the enemy's knights.

Finally, we should engage their meagre infantry with our own ...err... meagre infantry, then strike at their rear with our horse.

It will be a tricky plan to pull off but I believe that the propose South German army has enough strength to succeed by alternative stratagems should the one I propose not meet with your favour or fail on the day.

I would welcome the Chancellor or any other noble's opinions on this proposed battle plan.

My fellow Dukes, I fear I cannot spare a single man from the Nuremburg garrison to deal with these ruffians. The development of the city and recruiting of a future army depend on keeping the hired arms as few as possible for the time being. However, I will not have it said that Maximillian was one to shrink from a fight. I will join you with my personal guard of heavy cavalry. Though we may be few, my men are stout warriors and a proper charge or two will put the fear of God into the hearts of those rebels.

I welcome your help, Duke Otto, and look forward to greeting you again as a brother in arms.

However, I must take both you and Chancellor Diettrich to task a bit for questioning my reasoning in regards to my merchants.

You see, one can never have enough merchants. They make a town lively, they bring their own entertainers to my court at times (a very witty pair of Irish jugglers last week, in fact). Most importantly, they set an example of wealthy decadence which inspires the common people to strive for more themselves. And thus my tax base increases.

In the current time, though, when robbers clog the roads, it is true that I should focus my treasury and energy on more important matters, such as snuffing out those mean and lowly pustulences calling themselves "rebels". So, I have changed my orders accordingly. Be assured, though, that I will train more merchants and have the grandest time with them, and their jugglers!

And I have just received word from you as well, Duke Maximillian. My hearty thanks to you! May your walls and your soldiers keep your people safe while you are gone from them.

Chancellor Diettrich,
I am glad you share my views on the situation in Florence.
I will start recruiting new troops in Bologna, and assemble m army, so I can march on Florence as soon as possible.

Oh and I wish Dukes Otto, Leopold and Maximilian all the best in the quelling those dastardly brigands.
Remember that God always supports a just cause.

Emperor Heinrich.

Maxmillan, why are you not able to contribute a single infantryman to the South German army? Innsbruck makes a third of the next profit of Nuremburg and it's strategic position is at least as vulnerable. If I can spare half my infantry, why cannot you? But anyway, the comparison should be with Vienna, not Innsbruck - Nuremburg makes more profit than Vienna, but Vienna is sending three infantry and a troop of horse with it's Duke. You send nothing. I do not understand.

Is it that you fear a reduction in your garrison would mean having to lower taxes to keep order? If so, how much income would you lose? Your settlement will be busy constructing farming land for the next six years. Why do you need money now so urgently?

Otto, as I have said before, with my current investments completed in Communal Farming, my intentions are to invest in the development of your lands and fund the recruitment of a professional army from your castle. In order to contribute infantry to this battle, I will be forced to recruit poor quality militia from Nuremburg. This will drain my treasury both this year and in future years and will supply me with a handful of men who are not capable of effective military action. I may be wealthy in comparison to some, but it is a simple fact that a yearly aftertax income of fewer than 1000 florins is not indicative of great wealth. I must be as frugal as I can now to encourage future profitability for us all. One of the reasons that Nuremburg makes more profit than Vienna is that Nuremburg does not have to pay for the upkeep of hordes of militia!

In any event, these rebels are certainly annoying, but they are far from our cities and have not destroyed any local farmland. The very notion that they must be dealt with immediately is exasperating. I have decided to come the battle myself despite this because I feel obliged to support my neighbors. To be honest, I would prefer not to deal with this at all at the present time. Yet, I know I must contribute something, so I have denied my town my own skills as governor and am risking my life to deal with a horde of vagabonds in the woods. I will not leave my town undefended, and a single unit of archers is simply an unacceptable garrison for a city without proper defenses. I assumed my contribution of heavy horse would be more welcome than a unit of town militia. However, if you would prefer that I send those men in my stead, I will oblige and happily stay home to see to the proper management of my lands.

Frankly, your attitude in this matter distresses me. Should I be seeking to invest my money in an Imperial castle instead of your lands?

Duke Maxmillan, I understand you believing this engagement to be premature. I have some sympathy with this view. But Vienna has called for our aid and we must answer. And we must do so with a full heart. You can no more go to battle half-heartedly, than you can be half-pregnant. To fight the rebels understrength is worse than not fighting at all.

There is an important issue here - do we seek to act alone, trying to grow strong by slowly investing in our individual settlements. Or do we seek to pool our meagre military resources and use that to leverage greater advantage? More crudely - do we seek to prosper by building at home or by conquest?

Personally, I believe that acting alone we will be easy prey to our neighbours. But three settlements pooling resources should be as strong as some kingdoms. Prague and other settlements lie to the east for our taking. We need to decide whether we intend to move on them in the near future or wait.

I propose the three of us - Innsbruck, Vienna and Nuremburg form a South German confederacy, to coordinate our activities. We should start by outlining the desired investments in building and military units that we would each like to make over the next 12 turns. We can then see if that gives us enough manpower to form a viable South German army capable of serious action during that period.

Otto, it is good to see that we have the same interests at heart. Yet, I do firmly believe that investment in our own provinces and cooperation as a group are not always mutually exclusive. It is in all of our interests to maximize our income quickly, to enable us to support a large, professional army. You will note that following construction of all economic facilities available to me, I declared my intention afterwards to supporting your own development, ahead even of improvements to my own city walls.

I very much approve of your idea of a Southern Confederation Army. Working together, we can field a larger army faster and more effectively than working alone. However, I wish to emphasize that it is far more effective and efficient to utilize professional soldiers in this army than militias. The initial costs may be higher for a professional army, but its casualties will be fewer and its likelihood of victory greater. This will save us money on retraining and replacements in the long run and ensure more successes. For this reason, I would very much prefer to avoid investments in militia buildings and units in Nuremburg and Vienna until it is absolutely necessary or money is no longer scarce. I do notes that Vienna certainly has greater need of a larger garrison for defense, as it is on the edge of the Empire. Nuremburg, however, is more protected and secure. By keeping my garrisons at a minimum, I can maximize the amount of funds I have available to support the Southern Confederation Army.

I propose that all three of us invest in improvements to Innsbruck castle and its training facilities to enable us to recruit this army. However, our investments must be wisely focused to allow maximum efficiency in cost and income. I do not know the status of Vienna offhand, but if there is more opportunity for financial growth in that city at the present time, it may be in all of our best interests to prioritize that over anything else. Once that is complete, we should focus on investment in structures that will provide us with the best possible army available for our money. For instance, we currently have both Mounted Sergeants and Mailed Knights available to us as cavalry from Innsbruck. Mailed Knights cost significantly more than Mounted Sergeants, yet only provide a small increase in battle effectiveness. I believe that it is thus more cost effective for us to use Mounted Sergeants at the present time and refrain from hiring Mailed Knights until such a time as money is more freely available.

Furthermore, I would be interested in reaching an agreement on the disposition of territories seized by the Southern Confederation Army. I will not hide the fact that I wish to gain personal control of Prague. However, that does not mean that we cannot all prosper from its conquest. I would be willing to give up any claim to income received from the sack of the city (all plunder to be split between Innsbruck and Vienna) and I would immediately offer the income from a full year (ooc: turn) from both Nuremburg and Prague to both yourself and Duke Leopold. Similar arrangements could be made for Leopold’s seizure of Zagreb and your annexation of Bern. In this way, a single army funded by our combined assets can work for all of our good, while still providing for the increase in our own personal estates.

I have let these deliberations continue without my second guessing because I had wanted to see where they would initially lead, but now I feel compelled to ask a few questions of my own.

Mainly, how do you all plan to pay for the upkeep of this army? Keeping an exact count and organisation will be virtually impossible given the nature of such a venture.

And secondly, how do you plan on dealing with the Hussites? They're about all that the reports from travelers and some of our own court members could bring out. These Hussites are vicious men, armed with armor piercing crossbows at range and heavily mailed for fierce melee, one unit of them is easily a match for two of our ill equipped militia. I'd say a fair wager of their composition would be at least two of these units, a leader, most likely mounted, and some militia of a caliber equal to our own. But what I fear is that these Hussites may put too much of a beating into our own forces before they can close that they won't want to stand against them.

I am not doubting the abilities of any man here, but I am doubting the abilities of conscripted men to stand in the face of severe losses against professional soldiery. Perhaps I'm just being worrisome, but we are fairly weak right now and caution seems the better part of valor in regards to these Bohemian heretics.

My thanks for your interest in our little problem here, Chancellor. We have not committed any troops to battle, so there is time for further thought before we do.

What would you suggest we do? If we leave the rebels sitting there on the road, gobbling up my merchants' profits at their pleasure, it will be years before we are able to field a professionally trained force from Innsbruck. By that time that region will have been completely devastated, vacated by any people of good will simply to avoid being robbed constantly. Not to act in this situation seems cowardly and low to me.

However, I can see your point, if these are indeed as dangerous of men as you have heard. Sending our admittedly poorly equipped force against veterans would be an empty gesture, and to endanger the lives of three Dukes while doing so would be foolhardy.

Does anyone have an accurate report of the composition of this band of brigands?

Chancellor, the only information we have on the composition of the Hussite force has been provided by you. You informed us that they included several companies of Hussite crossbowmen. No doubt there are other villains among them. At the moment, we have promised a force of three knights and their escorts, a troop of mounted sergeants, two archers and two peasant spearmen. I would much prefer it if Nuremburg could supply some more infantry - and would be prepared to wait a few years if that is necessary. I believe we could take the ruffians with even the currently pledged force, but I agree it will not be an easy fight.

On your second query, about the upkeep of the force. I do not forsee much of a problem keeping the records here. The commander will have to make a note of which archer company is from Innsbruck and which from Vienna, but otherwise I fear it is Vienna that is bearing the brunt of the army so far. If this inequity is the problem you allude to - rather than a mere issue of record keeping - then I sympathesise and believe we should address by formulating a collective plan for building and recruitment in the South German federation. I would be happy to adjust my planned building schedule to meet the needs of my fellow Dukes, but first must do the necessary legwork to forecast my income and expenditures. At the moment, I confess I am being rather distracted by reading an enthrawling work on the Roman Civil War.

Dear Dukes, why is it taking you so long to deal with these brigands?
If I recall correctly, the good Chancellor has offered to pay for the recruitement of companies of townguards to keep the peace in your cities.
Since the wages of these men would be paid for by the city council it should not bother you.

An army including the personal retinue of three Dukes with some militia spearmen and archers, should have no problem in crushing whatever villainous rebellion! I have yet to see a company of bandits that could withstand a charge of noble knights, on a just cause!

Heinrich

(letter from outside Vienna)

To my fellow Dukes, to the Chancellor, and to the Emperor: pax vobiscum.

This Roman civil war book must have made its way to our Chancellor as well. What an odd and startling coincidence!

I must say, Emperor Heinrich, that your words are heartening. I had begun to doubt this venture, and doubt whether it was wise for myself to be spending the season out here in the forest awaiting reinforcements, in preparation for this defence of our land. However, I am certain now that our cause is noble, that our foe are puss-oozing infidels, and we can meet with naught but success in this venture!

Duke Leopold

You must forgive me, indeed Duke Otto intrigued me with his comments and I found myself searching for a copy of the same book.

The history I've found in my readings is absolutely remarkable. But I won't bore these deliberations with my fascinated rantings.

I've gone back to my work and will remain vigilant as of now.

Ah, it is ofcourse a good thing to learn from our past. As the natural heirs of that Old Roman Empire we can only profit from studying the moves and mistakes of our ancestors, so we do not make those same mistakes ourselves.

From what I hear it that Roman civil war must have been quite an interesting time, truely a climax of the period before it.

It's hard to say, perhaps it was, or perhaps its golden age didn't come until after. The volume ends prematurely, seems the man who was keeping the best record of the events was kidnapped at the beginning of the civil war, and all the historical records after that are all written from the personal opinions of many different men, so truth is difficult to define. I haven't read any of them up until the end yet either, so it's not yet clear how it turned out.

My fellow Dukes, I will await you and your reinforcements as long as possible.

And Chancellor Deittrich, may I inquire what your plans are concerning the Imperial army's actions? There are quite a number of cities between Hamburg and Vienna which I hear are quite ripe for the taking. Having the income from these cities would be a great help to us all. I would be marching forth myself to deal with Prague, but the current situation with the rebels must be my first priority.

Leopold

I have recently raised a number of archer units into the Imperial army and have drafted some town militia at Frankfurt so as to free up our otherwise costly spear militia and archers there for Imperial army duty as well.

They are on their way to Hamburg now, when they arrive, I plan on leaving some mailed knights, spear sargeants, and two units of archers as a garrison, the remainder of our soldiers in Hamburg will help draft some of the local peasantry. We feel they may feel much more sure of themselves on the battlefield with the padded armor Hamburg can provide, and will be more inclined to do their duty for the reich. This force will then comprise the reorganised Imperial army and will march east to Magdeburg. The castle there lies in a rich river valley that I feel, if the necessary work is put forth to convert the fortification into a prosperous town, could net us a very large profit in farm and trade for years to come. With the added incentive of having Hamburg castle nearby for defense.

What do the dukes think of this plan?

The Emperor is right - we must act. It seems that this season, I have been joined by the mounted sergeants but the men are exhausted and can move no more. I suggest that we prepare to attack the rebels next season.

Acting against the rebels seems imperative, because they have effectively severed the connection between Vienna and the rest of our Empire. We will not be able to unite the South German army except on the field of battle against these scum. I propose next season, when the mounted sergeants are rested, that Duke Maximillan, myself and our men ride to the front of the rebels, in contact with them but not engaging them. Then, Duke Leopold will take his men and strike at them from the rear. The battle will begin with him fighting alone, but Maximillan and I will arrive as reinforcements for him to command. After we are victorious, the South German army will finally be united. If Duke Leopold does not wish the honour of command, then Maximillan or I could strike the first blow. But Vienna is supplying the lion's share of the men for the battle and should have first refusal of command.

I ask Duke Maximillan and Duke Leopold for their consent to this plan.

Now, if we are agreed to this plan in principle, I would like to see what we can do to increase the likelihood of success in this venture. That is to say - how can we increase the military might at our disposal?

To Duke Maximillan - I believe you could spare one of your two existing infantry companies without raising taxes. I ask you again: will you contribute one such unit? I do not see the cost to you. I personally would prefer you to send the archer unit[1], although it is at your discretion.

To Dukes Maximillan and Leopold - the Chancellor has offered to pay for two town militia for our force, thereafter to be garrisoned in your cities. If he has not paid for the two already trained by Duke Leopold, may I recommend that Duke Leopold order another two to be trained at the Imperium's expense? Then, I would ask that Vienna march out its other company of archers and one town militia to join the Duke in preparation for his assault on the rebels. After the battle, that unit of town militia can be sent to Nuremburg, where it can be stationed with free upkeep as per the Chancellor's wishes. I ask both you esteemed Dukes: are you agreeable to this?

If you both agree to my plans, we will take to the field next season with:

3 knightly escorts
1 troop of mounted sergeants
2 archers & 3 spearmen OR 3 archers + 2 spearmen
1 town militia

I believe this force will comfortably overwhelm the rebels. If Dukes Maximillan and Leopold do not consent to reinforce our South German army, it will stand at:

3 knightly escorts
1 troop of mounted sergeants
2 archers
2 spearmen

I still believe this army to be sufficient to crush the Hussites, but I am a firm believer in the doctrine of overwhelming force in order to minimise our losses.

Now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to that history of the Roman Civil War I mentioned. I am just getting to the really interesting bit.


[1]My preference for 3 archers is based on the battleplan discussed earlier - we will try to use our knights against the Hussite crossbowmen, then - when they are removed - we will rain death on the remaining forces before committing our lowly infantry.

An excellent suggestion Duke Otto! I would indeed be glad to lead our force against this foe. We will rout and destroy them, and teach a lesson to all who would do the same in future times.

Before charging my lieutenants with the raising of militia, I do need the Chancellor to confirm that the Empire will pay for such an undertaking. Though we here in Vienna are not impoverished, I do count each florin and need to assure my accountants that all will be well with their books.

Hence, I am provisionally giving orders for the raising of two units of militia in Vienna, and requesting my archers and some militia join me in the forest.

And what an excellent party we will have next season, when we sally against these ruffians!