Imperial Diet III

[AussieGiant]

A young man stands in the livery of the Duke of Austria, he bares a striking resemblance to the Duke in fact, he begins speaking in a rather nervous voice

As the Count of Venice is away in Sweden he has asked me to read the following message My Lords.

“Kaiser Henry, My Prince, Dukes of the Reich, Diet Speaker, Counts and Electors,

And so the blood shed begins in earnest.

I must congratulate the Kaiser for an outstanding victory against the Egyptian forces.

Regarding his statements in the Chancellor report I would like to make the following comments.

Points one through three are commendable and necessary. I have already begun to see a dramatic increase in our own economy now that many obsolete units are not being paid by the treasury. Of course this new surplus is now being immediately reinvested in new troops, but the sacking of Antioch has reaped a large profit.

It is point four that I would like to address in more detail. While I understand we are bound by edict to disengage from the Moors, I would like to do this in the most honourable way possible. Having invested much time in lucrative trade between out nations I would like to, at the very least, not jeopardise this work. Additionally we do need to begin some form of engagement with our European and Christian brothers. If we are to focus our military might against the Islamic nations we must develop strong and sustaining relations with our more like minded brothers. In the short term this will be somewhat costly, but in the long term we must create this type of structure if we are to sustain our military in the East AND at home.

I recommend a series of diplomatic engagements to “sound out” those nations with whom we could improve our relations with as small an investment as possible. Think of it as a foreign policy scheme in which we are trying to assess what our maximum return on diplomatic investment would be.

We need a reputation of good standing in order for our merchant class and therefore our economy to flourish. The initial costs we bare now will be returned with much greater interest in the mid to long term.

I'd also like to note the position the Kaiser has bestowed on....ahhh Prinz Ulrich...are there constitutional issues to discuss with this declaration? Do we have a second realm beginning in the East?”


With a confident finish the young man stops speaking…realises there is nothing more to say and takes a seat. A few of the Venitian Count’s entourage whisper words of encouragement and slap his back appreciatively.

[Stig]

The young man Ansehelm stands and speaks

"Mein Kaiser, mein Prinz und meine Herren, some of you have spoken the wish to modernise our Household armies. While in itself this is a good idea we must remember that we will spend loads of money in what will happen the following years. We wish to make peace with the Milanese, however if they refuse we want to send an expedition to attack them. We wish to attack Krakow, and for this we need seige weapons. We wish to attack the French and in order for this to succeed we need to spend money. We wish peace with Venetia, but if they refuse we want to attack them as well.
And I'm not even speaking of our crusade against the Muslim.

This all means we are spending a great amount of money on warfare and making peace, while at this we are also spending money on upgrading the armies that need to attack.

I suggest we first have our armies attack and see what we're left with. That money can then be put into replacing the armies. Units of obsolete soldiers that have recieved many damage can be retreated to cities and serve as garrisons, while they are not reinforced by new units and merge with other damaged units. Their places can then be taken by the new units. This is the cheapest and most effective way if we want to stay our of the red."

[GeneralHankerchief]

Conrad Salier:

While I agree that the Household Armies do need to be modernized, I think there is a more pressing point in regards to these armies: namely, their use. I am sure that some of the elder Electors present can recall the initial discussion of the Household Armies in the Session of 1140. It was made clear by its primary advocates that the Armies were to be used primarily for defense. Defense of the homeland, especially.

But look where we are today. Mein Duke Otto, I respect you in many ways, but it seems that this is one flaw of yours. You have sent the Bavarian Household Army far from Bavaria to conquer the islands of the Milanese, and now they have caught us with our trousers down. I shall try to make due with what is available, but generally the Household Armies were designed to deal with this sort of situation.

[OverKnight]

Gunther, glancing over at Conrad with a raised eyebrow, turns to speak to the Diet:

The timing of the Milanese offensive is unfortunate. I would remind the Diet that unless the Bavarian Household Army is currently engaged on Corsica, the first priority is the defense of Bavaria, as laid out in the orders given by Duke von Kassel.

I would also respectfully remind the Kaiser that no time table is laid out in edict 8.1, he has 18 years now to complete it. While I am glad that the Milanese flotilla was attacked, I am curious as to why we did not pursue them when he knew there was an invasion force on the fleet and make immediate landfall of the BHA near where they were anchored. Now that this option is gone, If the BHA can embark and land near the Milanese landing force to face them in battle, my Duke asks that it be done. The second part of the edict can be fulfilled once their army is dispersed.

Edict 8.1 was passed by this body, and the latest actions by the Milanese show why their constant threat to the Reich must be removed permanently. Any peace with them, particularly at such a high price, would most likely be broken eventually, and we would face the same situation in the future.

It is the Diet's responsibility to pass edicts that benefit the Reich, it is the Chancellor's responsibility to execute those edicts while maintaining the defense of the Reich.

Thank you.

[econ21]

Diet Speaker: Duke Otto's question on the matter of the crisis with Milan reveals that the Kaiser's report on the events of 2002 was regrettably incomplete.

The sequence of events was as follows. The Imperial navy of the western Mediterranean spotted a Milanese army embarked on a fleet anchored in the straits beween Corsica and Sardinia. The navy and Bavarian Household Army were based in the frontier settlement of Marseilles, quite far from the vulnerable Italian heartlands by land.

Given the Duke's refusal to continue negotiations with Milan, the decision was made to strike quickly and implement his edict to the letter by landing the BHA on Corsica. It was hoped this move would induce the Milanese to also disembark from their anchorage off southern Corsica and defend their homelands.

However, after landing the BHA, our navy found it would be able to catch the Milanese fleet unawares. The chance of sinking their army at sea was too tempting to resist. Unfortunately, the cowards fled after their defeat. What was not anticipated was that they would flee northwards, right next to Genoa.

The Duke asks why the Milanese fleet was not pursued and the BHA not landed near where the Milanese were anchored? I hope he can now understand that the BHA fleet was landed near where the Milanese were anchored - that is to say, in Corsica. The immediate threat to Italy only emerged later when the Milanese armada fled north after their defeat at sea. The Imperial fleet was not able to pursue because it is impossible to sail from Marseilles to Genoa, via the straits between Corsica and Sardinia, in the relevant time frame.

[Warluster]

Jobst laughs out aloud, then stands

Uh, the strife we get ourselves into!

Jobst chuckles some more

I think that clears the air of all worries, but anyway, what was done was done, we can't stop that noww, let us look back to the future!

Though I would be insanely intrested to know two things I don't know, are the Milanese still on the islands? And what of the Veneatians?

Prinz Jobst sits, and calls of one of his aides, and Jobst stands and leaves, while the aide sits and listens

[econ21]

Diet Speaker: I have a sad announcement to make. I regret to announce that at the close of 1202 AD, Maximillan Mandorf passed away peacefully in his sleep in Adana.

It is no exaggeration to say he was our own St Paul - a man who first rigorously condemned the church and then promoted it with the same rigour. Above all, he will be remembered for inspiring the crusade to Jerusalem, a crusade which repaired our relations with the Papacy and led to the foundation of the Kingdom of Outremer. Mandorf's presence on this earth as a guardian of the one true path will be sorely missed.