Orders and reports thread

[Ituralde]

1172:

While we have crushed a lot of resistance immediatelly after Emperor Heinrichs death our enemies are still at large. The Milanese foremost have landed another small force on the shores of Tuscany. North of Rome a small band of rebels has popped up that says it will support the new Pope Fillipus in all his decisions. Already Conrad Salier is making great haste to fight his way south. Currently Rome is cut off though and the Pope is reported to collect money for more Mercenaries. Plittersdorf is instructed to negotiate.

Due to the lack of construction last turn we have finally filled our coffers again. It remains to be seen how much of it will be used for unit recruitment and retraining though.
The last victim of our ecxommunication seems to be a Michel de Lannoy, who has been preaching in the Bern region. His beliefs can only be called Heretic now. He has approached Eusebius von der Pfalz, who clearly dennounced him as such. He may be tried later this year.

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The English have not made further progress in their siege of Hamburg and the Portugese have finally withdrawn their armies into Flandres. Fredericus von Hamburg is readying his troops in Magdeburg to march north to defeat the English.

The French have withdrawn their army marching for Genoa freeing up the Bavarian Household Army, which is currently on its way to Milan. It will take some time until it is fully restored after its recent battles.
The French have not been idle though, we have not yet heard of our Mediterranean fleet that just recently defeated the returning French Crusaders. I fear that our Cogs were lost to the superior French Holks roaming the Medditerranean. Meanwhile another French force has advanced on Dijon from the North. Prince Jobst left the city, which is now in danger of rioting to defeat the French on their own soil. He was quite successful and is engaging another French stack with the aid of Ulrich Hümmel near Metz.

The French have been defeated once again. Prince Jobst and Ulrich Hümmel carried the day. The valiant efforts of the later prompted our Prince to knight Ulrich Hümmel. Encouraged by this praise he has hired some Mercenary Spearmen to bolster his army and is moving on Metz. The siege of the rebellous city should commence next season.

In face of the Heretic Michael de Lannoy, Charles Otterbach himself has travelled south to converse with the man and see if there's no hope of returning him on a righteous path.

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He is not the only one rebelling against our rule. For some time now a peasant by the name of Jens is blocking a road in southern Bavaria. Their demands are immediate reconciliation with the church, otherwise they will take the protection of their souls in their own hands.

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News of other Heretics reach us from around Thorn, where Cardinal Herden is spreading the Holy message. He has approached a young man called Tancred of Tyrolia, who has preached against our rule many times now. Asking for a return to the Holy Church.

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As you can see the Franconian Armies have not been idle and Günther von Kastilien is currently attacking the last pockets of Polish resistance around Thorn. His final goal is to move on Breslau to take some pressure from the Franconian heartlands around Magdeburg and Frankfurt. Already one of our spies has infiltrated Breslau to help facilitate an eventual attack.
Fredericus von Hamburg has now finally moved north against the English under Walter Smithe. Although numerous his troops lack the training and experience of our own. If Smithe doesn't attack the siege of Hamburg could be lifted next season.

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Last comes the question of which route the Crusaders will take around Sofia. I have already heard of the discussion that has sprung up in the Council and would like to give you an overview of the situation.

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There are two routes to pass Sofia, one to the South and one to the East. The Eastern one will most likely bring you in contact with the Hungarian hosts outside of Sofia. The southern route can be reached quicker and should provide a narrow gorge in which to trap and defeat eventual pursuers. This will lenghten the time it takes for our army to reach the Hellespont however.
That is if you are planning to avoid confrontation with the enemy.


New constructions have begun in Dijon, Nuremburg and Thorn.