Chancellor’s Report for 1218
The year began with disaster: despite having a strong garrison, the fortress of Thorn fell to a bold assault from a Russian force half its size. The only consolation from this bitter defeat is that the Russians chivalrously spared the fortress from being sacked or exterminated.
There are, I believe, lessons from this bitter defeat. First, we cannot rely on garrisons to protect our frontiers. The garrison I provided for Thorn was the force that the late Maximillan thought sufficient to hold Adana against all comers - vis, three regiments of spearmen, three of archers and two of dismounted feudal knights. However, what was missing was clearly the late Maximillan or his equivalent - a distinguished general to oversee the defences. I know that the Count of Thorn will feel resentment that he was not kept in post to defend Thorn. However, in my defence I can only say that I had no knowledge that Russia would attack us until Thorn was besieged and I judged the priority to be the Count earning his spurs in battle against the Poles, so that then he could be used to freely command forces in Franconia and elsewhere.
A second lesson of Thorn is that our borders have become stretched, especially with Household Armies assigned to conquer neighbouring provinces. When Thorn fell, the Franconian army was far away outside Krakow. Similarly, when Genoa was menaced, the Bavarian army was in Corsica. When the Hungarians threatened Breslau and the Venetians massed at Durazzo, the Austrian army was in Thessalonica. Now the Swabian army is at Rheims, I fear for Marsellies and Metz. Duke Otto has said that it is the Chancellor’s responsibility to balance the imperatives of implementing edicts for conquest with the need for homeland defence. Perhaps there is some truth in this, but I believe Houses should exercise more oversight over the deployment of their forces and provide more nuanced edicts or standing orders that recognise the primacy of defending our borders.
In response to the loss of Thorn, I began the march northwards of Duke Kastilien’s battered household army from outside Krakow back to Thorn. Unfortunately, a small Polish army blocked the road north and we are once again subject to a Papal injunction to desist from attacking them. Consequently, the FHA was forced to go off road and skirt round the Poles. To speed up the march on Thorn, I detached the catapult batteries from the FHA and sent them to Breslau under the Count of Thorn’s command.
In Rheims, the Swabian Household Army is under siege by an inferior French army. I have yet to learn if the Duke of Swabia will lead a sally out of the city. After the debacle of Thorn, I will not authorise a junior commander to fight the battle. [OOC: no autoresolving here!]
Prince Jobst has crushed a rebel army south of Frankfurt. North of Rome, Steward Scherer has finally reached the rebel army menacing our interior. I await news of the battle.
Near Ragusa, Duke Leopold has joined with the bulk of the army to be formed into a crusade. Count Salier is bringing up more knights. I do not say that all the nobles gathering there will join the crusade but I am giving my successor as Chancellor the freedom about who else to include (beyond Leopold, Salier and Zirn). Before departing, Duke Leopold and the next Chancellor may wish to strike down the Venetians massing around Durazzo. Otherwise, I fear that they will do to Ragusa what the Russians have done to Thorn. There is also the strong Hungarian army wandering around the borders of Budapest. Count Mahren remains besieging Thessalonica, but I believe this endeavour may prove futile just like the Bavarian strike at Corsica and the Franconian march on Krakow. I should also report that Spain and Denmark have embarked on the crusade to Damascus. In other Austrian news, Zagreb has accepted a Merchant’s guild.
At sea, a small Egyptian fleet has reached Ragusa and sunk some of the ships that transported Conrad Salier to Ragusa. This means that we are unable to reinforce the crusade with units from the BHA despite Steward Steffen’s generous offer. The ships returning from landing our mercantile expedition in north Africa encountered a much larger Egyptian fleet. Fortunately, the enemy did not strike but I was sufficiently alarmed to send the ships to join with Prinz Hans’s armada. I pray that our large naval force will be sufficiently strong to protect the transports bringing the Prinz’s army to Constantinople.
I declined an offer of marriage for Demuth von Hamburg. There was nothing wrong with the young suitor, but with all the Kastiliens, von Hamburgs and von Mahren’s swanning around Rome and Ragusa, the last thing I felt the Reich needed was another Franconian trying to make an impression.
In the Levant, I drove off a small band of Egyptians under a chap called Medhat Karfur. At the time, I lacked any full regiments of pavise crossbowmen and the difficulty of dealing with Medhat’s one regiment of Mameluk archers has impressed on me the importance of having sufficient missiles if we ever have to face a horse archer force such as that of the horse lords. I recommend that the next Chancellor increase the proportion of pavisers in our Outremer archers as a precautionary measure. After the battle, I ransomed Medhat back to Edessa and have assembled a strong army on the approach to the city.
Now that Antioch is mainly Christian, I have moved our many Cardinals and priests to Damascus to convert the population in advance of our crusade. I hope our crusaders will be able to occupy the city without having to massacre its population. I have ordered all our settlements in Outremer to recruit more priests. I believe some priests should be sent to Edessa if the next Chancellor intends to take it from the Egyptians as I would recommend. Our spies have encountered the horde of horse lords south of Baghdad. A diplomat is en route to parley with them.
That ends my last annual report. I will provide short review of my full term in office shortly.
Kaiser Henry
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