Middle Ages: Interactive

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Byzantium has canceled the alliance with France. We do not wish to be brought into your affairs.

Basil II

[Warluster]

Well mate, great news, you just did! Trading with England! I send an offer to the Holy Roman Empire, do you want an alliance? If so just say yes, also-

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1.I will support you in any war with Byzantium.

2.I will support you in any war with England

3.If you are attacked I will send troops to you.

4.Same but you send me troops if I am attacked

5.We trade (Duh!)

6.I will support the kaiser in any argument.

From the king of france.

[Csargo]

Oh thankyou Sicily! When the Vile English have been beaten back, France will send troops to help you in Africa! And of course, you're army may work independantly of course. We are VERY,VERY grateful for your show of care as the Pope has no time to act, we had our army in Leon! They attacked us while our backs were turned! There cowards I say, attacking while our backs are turned... i wonder what the HRE thinks that there once noble allies are now attacking people when there backs are turned? What do you think Kaiser?

What did you expect?

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Byzantium laughs at Frances desparation of gaining allies.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Well mate, great news, you just did! Trading with England! I send an offer to the Holy Roman Empire, do you want an alliance? If so just say yes, also-

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1.I will support you in any war with Byzantium.

2.I will support you in any war with England

3.If you are attacked I will send troops to you.

4.Same but you send me troops if I am attacked

5.We trade (Duh!)

6.I will support the kaiser in any argument.

From the king of france.

You realize that the HRE is allied with England, right?

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Basil is confused of the continuing hostility between us and the HRE. We just wish to reinforce a danube border.

[Warluster]

France laughs at your gains of land, your empire is so small not even a mouse could fit in it, and France laughs at Byzantines lack of alliances, the HRE cancelled there alliance with England last time they attacked me.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

France laughs at your gains of land, your empire is so small not even a mouse could fit in it, and France laughs at Byzantines lack of alliances, the HRE cancelled there alliance with England last time they attacked me.

Really? I'm sure my whole empire would disagree. Like you have done anything smart. You can't even defend your own land.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

What was that about being small?

[Hepcat]

I would like to join as the Moors.

Look out popey, I'm coming for YOU!

[IrishArmenian]

King of France, In your situation, I would commision privateers to sack Byzantine Caravans. And, Emperor of Byzantium, if the HRE and England are allies, why do you help the ally of your enemy? England could, just as easily, send your goods to the HRE, which the French would not attack as it would hurt your pathetic military even more. Frankly, Emperor, I view you as a pathetic old dog, clinging to the last second's of its meek life, trying with all its might, to delay the inevitable. You won't be so strong when the Turks come, will you?

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

King of France, In your situation, I would commision privateers to sack Byzantine Caravans. And, Emperor of Byzantium, if the HRE and England are allies, why do you help the ally of your enemy? England could, just as easily, send your goods to the HRE, which the French would not attack as it would hurt your pathetic military even more. Frankly, Emperor, I view you as a pathetic old dog, clinging to the last second's of its meek life, trying with all its might, to delay the inevitable. You won't be so strong when the Turks come, will you?

We simply want to profit from trade with England.

We respected Sicily for their actions, now we think they are just a confused nation.

[Csargo]

The King of England laughs at all the bickering.

[Motep]

Watch yourself Byzantines, my troops draw ever closer. All 1 million of them.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Really, China, I do not wish to have another enemy. We have no bad blood with you, do we?

[Motep]

Stop Aiding the enemies of my allies, or my troops will attack you (you will know once you read my pm). Cn you re-pm me that? I wish to make what I wrote public.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Again, I only wished to profit, and since every other nation except England has been unfriendly, they were the only ones I felt safe to trade with.

[Motep]

...You are safe with the natio of China. So long as you do not in any do harm to my allies. Re-route the troops going to you to the Persian Empire.

[Csargo]

Again, I only wished to profit, and since every other nation except England has been unfriendly, they were the only ones I felt safe to trade with.

Does that mean I'm the only trustworthy nation?

[Motep]

............

[Csargo]

............

Don't hate me cause I'm European. Oh and invaded France

[Motep]

Don't hate me cause I'm European. Oh and invaded France

I dont hate you...I just view you as the enemy of my ally and think you are an untrustworty bakka!

[Hepcat]

So when do I get decisions to make?

[Csargo]

So when do I get decisions to make?

NEVER

[Motep]

NEVER

Bwahaha?

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Mongolia has finished inification.


Decisions Decisions:

Sicily: Continue in North Africa? Bring down the Moors in Spain? Bring down England?

England: Push into the French mainland? Wait for supplies? Launch a Second Front (specifically, where?)?

France: Drive the English out of the coast (will take a while)? Focus on Spain?

Moors: Drive the Sicilians out of Tunisia? Destroy the Spanish Kingdoms? Invade Egypt?

Seljuks: Push the Egyptians toward the Sinai Penninsula? Attack Persia before the Chinese conquer it? Attack Arabia?

Byzantium: Continue attacking Bulgaria? Attack the Seljuks?

Holy Roman Empire: Attack Poland? Intervene in Bulgaria? Attack France?

Leon: Attack the Moors? Wait for the French to get here (if they do)? Unite the Spanish Kingdoms

Mongolia: Advance into Siberia? Attack China?

China: Conquer Persia? Attack Korea? Attack Vietnam?

Pope: Excommunicate the Byzantines? Un Excommunicate England? Continue the "Holy War" against the Moors?

[Comrade Alexeo]

Chaos.

All was chaos.

***

"...and dost thou and all of your descendents swear fealty to the Holy Roman Kaiser Otto III, and all of his descendents, in perpetuity?"

The King of Croatia, Ivo Mesic, hesitated for just a moment before replying with a sigh:

"Yes, I do so."

*

It was over almost before it began, and before anybody expected it to be.

The Duke Josef von Speyer of Carenthia had planned to march quickly to the Croatian capital of Zagreb and thence lay siege to King Ivo Mesic and his court. The army had made good time, but Speyer was surprised when he arrived at Zagreb to find the Croatian army waiting for him outside its walls.

Ivo Mesic wanted a fight, and he would get it.

He should have stayed inside the walls; the Germans executed a swift and devastating victory against the poorly-armed Croatian militia. Speyer executed it thusly:

The German spearmen formed up in two lines on flat farmland outside the city, with woods on their left to protect their flanks. Speyer waited with his knights on the right side of the line. Half the archers were deployed after the spearmen, and the other half hid in the woods.

Mesic had only managed to gather some 50 knights, who fought with javelins and swords - which he knew were no match for the Germans and their great lances. He had, however, conscripted nearly 7500 from Zagreb and nearby villages, and armed them with spears and shields. In these he would have to count on victory - overwhelming the German force through sheer mass was the only option.

There could be little finesse to his plan, and Mesic simply began a massed charge towards the German lines while his knights swung to the left in order to distract the Germans.

What the King did not know was that von Speyer wanted all of this to come to pass. He had given his restless knights strict orders not to directly engage the Croatian cavalrymen, with promises that if they did so they would have plenty of killing to follow. So it was that the German knights began to "chase" after the Croatian knights.

Now the German infantry seemed exposed to the large mass coming towards them, and Speyer then ordered them to withdraw quickly as if in retreat; he knew that his men had the discipline to execute such an order.

At the opposite end of the spectrum were the Croatians, who lost all pretense of order and began to sprint towards the back of the Germans and their commander von Speyer, who suddenly blew a battle-horn.

At that moment, several things happened at once:

-the German infantry halted and turned around to face the Croatian charge.
-the archers on the field also halted and turned to face the Croatians, nocking their arrows.
-the German knights stopped the chase and charged right into the Croatian knights, who had been lulled into a false sense of security.
-the archers hidden in the woods marched double-quick outside the forest and set up in a line behind the Croatian infantry, also nocking their arrows as their field counterparts.

Mesic knew what was to come but could do naught but watch as disaster struck:

A sudden hail of arrows darkened the sky as the field archers let loose upon the Croatian herd. Almost as soon as that happened, the archers who had come up from the woods and formed up behind the Croatians fired straight into the backs of their enemies.

It was like a scythe cutting wheat; most of the Croatians were unarmored, and of course none had shields on their backs. Hundreds fell almost instantly; screams of war were exchanged into screams of death as everybody tried to figure out just where everybody had disappeared to.

The Croatian knights fought bravely, but were easily overwhelmed by their German counterparts and began to race towards Zagreb's walls. Then the German knights turned and galloped towards the Croatian infantry.

Mesic himself and his retinue charged towards the battle as well, hoping to take the German archers in their backs as they had taken the Croatians, but it would all be in vain.

Several more volleys from the archers streaked through the air before the Croatians figured out just what was happening - and when they did, and they saw the German knights just moments away on their left, they despaired and began to rout.

Speyer blared his horn again, and now he and the German infantry charged forward and chased after the Croatians, who were even now being utterly cut apart by the greedy German knights, filled with bloodlust. The field archers stopped firing and, though somewhat weary, began to chase as well - for even among vassal militias much plunder could be found off corpses.

Mesic was nearly upon the second group of archers when they calmly turned around and let loose a full volley at almost literally point-blank range.

It was disastrous; dozens of horses collapsed in an instant, and Mesic was thrown from his steed and then there was only darkness...

*

So it was that Duke Josef von Speyer, almost by accident, found himself with a virtually annihilated enemy army, a capitulated capital, and a captured king.

Surrender of the latter's country came quite quickly afterwards.

He allowed his force a well-deserved rest within the comfortable walls of Zagreb while he sent riders - some back to Klagenfurt with orders to ramp-up mobilization of the army intended for Hungary so they would be ready to march when Speyer returned, and some to the borders of the newly-conquered kingdom to maintain watch on the Byzantines, who surely would be able to defeat the Bulgarians rather quickly.

And so he waited...

***

To the King of France, Robert the Second

Der Kaiser is glad that you have come to him now. He believes that it shows that, despite your vile alliance with the heathens of China and Byzantium, the French Court may very well not be as possessed with heresy as previously thought, and indeed may not require trial by the Holy See.

As a test of your faith, der Kaiser will accept an alliance with France and further pressure our noble but, perhaps, misguided, ally of England to halt their campaign against you, but only if France agrees to cede the Duchies of Burgundy and Flanders in full and perpetuity to the Holy Roman Empire. By this, you will demonstrate that you are in fact not, to our mistake and embarassment possessed by evil and sin, but are indeed wise, noble, and pious souls.

If not, then der Kaiser will be even more convinced of the presence of Satan in the French court, and as a good Catholic will by necessity be forced to encourage His Holiness Silvester II to save the French citizenry from the Abomination.

Regards,
Baron Sigmund von Wilhelm of Bavaria
Deputy Commissioner of Kaiser Otto the Third of the Holy Roman Empire

***

Order.

All would be order.

[Motep]

Now to make things public:

China has two million soildiers. 1 million more are in training.

1, 000 ,000 men are headed to invade Persia.
250,000 are headed to invade Korea.
500,000 are protecting their homeland.
250,000 are conquering up to the western wastes and deserts.

Once my troops training is complete, those 500, 000 will head to the south to conquer lands there

Map of China



striped areas represent lands I plan to take on the home front.

I am orange.
the Khitan Empire is green.
the indians are red.
everybody else is just the tannish color.

[Csargo]

***

It had been twenty minutes since the British emissary had been ushered into the small chamber, and he was starting to get impatient.

As he sat there waiting, he did so without ever seeing a soul - except for a single manservant named Humphrey, who stood rigid next to a small table with some bread, cheese, and a pitcher of water.

It didn't take the emissary long to figure out that Humphrey was not only deaf, but mute as well. He was nevertheless completely competent otherwise - to the extent that it somewhat angered the Briton. The silence was deafening. Well, except when Humphrey refilled the emissary's pitcher or brought an extra piece of cheese or bread, always right before the emissary was about to gesture for more of either. The utter perfection was disturbing to the point of annoyance; silently, the emissary kept hoping that Humphrey would just once trip, or forget to fill the water before he asked - but, of course, the manservant never did fail.

Then, suddenly, Humphrey moved away from the table - and towards the door. The emissary was just about to make a silent query when Humphrey opened the door and scuttled out of the way of a tall German with a short gray beard and mustache walking in looking at a map.

Once again, the perfect timing both angered and impressed the British emissary, who rose from his chair in respect.

The German who had just entered the room rolled up his map, turned to the British emissary, and bowed his head. The emissary did likewise.

"I am the Baron Sigmund von Wilhelm of Bavaria." said the man in a deep, imposing voice. "Deputy Commissioner to His Most Pious Kaiser Otto the Third of the Holy Roman Empire."

The Briton introduced himself, and von Wilhelm nodded.

"Ah, good. I am glad that your lord Ethelred - long may his reign last! - was kind and wise enough to dispatch you."

The emissary responded with his own pleasantries.

"You must forgive my keeping you - there was an urgent matter that His Majesty required counseling on."

That was a lie, of course, although the Briton would not figure that out; the Germans almost always kept foreign emissaries waiting as a test of their resolve and character. They were not inhospitable so much as they were simply ruthless.

"I hope you do not take it as an offence by any means. Did Humphrey cause you any trouble?"

No, of course not, the emissary sighed inwardly. The Germans were notorious, notoriously bureaucratic, notoriously level-headed, notoriously obsessive. No detail could be overlooked in the Holy Roman Empire. They had kept him waiting, to be sure, but they could hardly be considered inhospitable or rude - his whims had been attended to, and matters of court always took precedence. Above all, the Briton reminded himself, the Germans were perfect - notoriously so.

"No, of course not, on either count," replied the emissary.

"Excellent. Now I shall not keep you waiting any further - let us begin our discussions."

***

On his way back to the English court, the emissary continued to go over what the Baron had proposed to him. A formation of an alliance and a joint invasion of France were tempting offers indeed, especially from the strongest European power - and it was an excellent foundation upon which the destruction of France could be wrought.

But, of course, the emissary knew his place. He must accept His Highness' wishes on these matters...

***

Here is what me and the most Holy of Roman Emperors discussed

As you can see it was his idea to invade France not mine.

Do what you will with this information.

Be warned France the HRE will declare war on you it may not be now but it will be soon.

I wish to make peace with the French and the Pope.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Byzantium is appaled at the actions of the "Holy" Roman Empire. We only wish to expand our Empire, like you need anything for your greedy hands.