M2TW AAR The Selvo Dynasty - A Venetian AAR

[kublikhan3]

War
Our empire is once again at war. And this time it did not look to be a short war like our conquest of the Italian peninsula. No, it looked likely to be a long bloody war against powerful empires. Thought still at peace with the Germans, relations continued to deteriorate. What few friends we had left in Germany convinced emperor Henrich to declare war on Denmark. Leopold's faction was quick to respond however, reforging their alliance with France and invading our territory with two powerful armies, without a declaration of war from the Emperor. Even the council was finally forced to admit the Union with Leopold was a mistake and must be broken. Only German's alliance with Hungary stayed our hand, for we did not wish to anger our only other ally.

With three potential enemies and three armies at our command, troop allocation was relatively simple. We left one army on our border with France, one to keep an eye on the two German squatter armies invading our territory, and one to war with Byzantine. Our assassin, Simon De Visci, was busy assassinating any Byzantine swine he could get his hands on. While our cities were busy training a fourth army so as to match the Germans man for man.

With France and Germany re-allied and with our shame alliance with Germany still in place, the only front we could be active on was the Byzantine front. Our armies managed to wrestle Durazzo back under our banner after a fierce fight with Byzantine. Germany broke her alliances with us and established a new alliance with the Pope. Our fourth army was finally ready and was dispatched to keep an eye on the Germans. Our two armies on the German border were sufficient to deter them from invading any further and our armies wearily watched each other for a number of years. With France and German allied again and with our alliance with Germany broken, France was free to resume their war with us and sent an army to invade our borders. We easily repulsed this invasion force. Yet still they sent their troops at us.

Dark Times
This war has been dragging on for nearly fifteen years now with no end in sight. The two large armies of German squatters refused to leave our territory, despite the fact that they didn't have the balls to declare war and attack us. Our relations with the Germans and the Pope are continuing to deteriorate. We are reluctant to send more gold to Germany to repair relations when it is clear they are going to attack us either way. All of our merchants had their assets seized by unscrupulous traders, and Domingo's health is beginning to fail. Our treasury is nearly empty, and the council's mood has changed from cautiously supportive to openly hostile. To top it off, we are currently involved in a two front war against Byzantine and France and our other neighbors waste no love on us either. These are dark times for Venice. Our allies, the Hungarians, were not having an easy time of it either. They were currently locked in a decade long feud with the powerful Polish empire. Both empires were throwing so much into that war that they seemed to be stagnating each other. The only bright spot for us was we managed to wrestle a city away from the Byzantines, Thessalonica. This was the first blood we managed to draw from them, recapturing Durazzo was mearly retaking what was rightfully ours. Still, this morale booster was not enough to comfort our citizens when they got the news that Domingo was dead, having passed away in his sleep. Command of the empire passed to his eldest son, Councilor Bartolomeno.

Having served on the council for a number of years, Bartolomeno knew how they operated and had a much easier time handing them then his father did. Bartolomeno managed to smooth over relations between the Selvos and the Council. With the council placated for the time being, Bartolomeno could turn his attention to military matters. The Byzantine front seemed to be well in hand and nothing need be done there. The German front was another story. With two large armies invading us, we had to answer the Germans in kind with two large armies of our own keeping an eye on them. This was an enormous drain on the treasury and a constant bone of contention with the council. With Hungary allied to both of us, there was little we could do less we risk ending the one alliance we have left. That all changed in 1144 when Germany and Hungary ended their alliance.

"Excellent! This is just the news I have been waiting for! Now we can finally kick those damn Germans out of our territory once and for all!"
"But Sire, the Germans are allied with the Pope. Our relations with his eminence are already less than stellar, a war with the HRE would push them even lower."
"We have little choice. We can no longer afford to have these huge armies standing around simply to keep an eye on the Germans. Our treasury is being sapped daily. We must have some tangible conquests in our near future less the council start to speak of capitulation."
"As you wish Sire! I shall deliver our declaration of war to Germany presently."

We had no trouble kicking out the German squatters from our territory once treaty obligations were out of the way. Now we had our eyes set on Bologna. A stone's throw away from Venice, it was too close to our home city to remain in enemy hands. We laid siege to the city and its powerful garrison, which included Emperor Henrich himself. Nonetheless, our armies were successful and we sacked the city. Emperor Henrich was killed in the battle. Pope Pierus was pissed and demanded we make peace with his ally. With their armies dealt a harsh blow and their emperor dead, we smelled blood in the water. We wanted to extract some more territory from Germany. They must be made to pay for their intransigence. We sent most of the gold we got from sacking Bologna to the Pope. He immediately forgot about our transgressions and our relations shot up to very high.

Turning Point
The expulsion of the German invaders and the capture of Bologna marked a turning point in the war. For the next two decades our armies met with success on every front. Iraklion, Corinith, Innsbruck, Nuremburg, Vienna, they all belonged to us now. But lately, our string of successes has started to slow down. We have sent constant cash infusions to the Pope to keep him happy but eventually even gold was not enough to placate him. He was absolutely livid we continued to attack his ally for over two decades, despite his constant requests for peace. Things came to a head in 1166 when Pope Pierus made his final ultimatum: stop attacking Germany or be excommunicated. His hints at excommunication had been growing ever stronger over these last few years until they lost all subtlety at all. Now he finally decided to play his trump card. We were not sure if he would actually do it or not. After all, it was our gold enabling him to live like a king. Still, we decided to play it safe and halt all offensive operations on the German front for the next decade or so. We pulled out of their territory and tried to provoke them into attacking us on our territory. Hopefully this strategy would cause Pierus's favour to swing to our cause. Ultimately, We wanted to see his alliance with Germany broken. Maybe if we were really lucky Germany would be excommunicated. For now though we would have to concentrate our expansion on other fronts.


Portugal had finally managed to defeat the Moors and made them their vassals. This was not welcome news to us as it meant Portugal had no enemy to fight. Soon they landed troops at Cagliari and layed siege to the city. Our diplomats delivered a message in no uncertain terms, if Portugal started a war with us now they would be completely annihilated. Unsurprisingly, the following year they had a change of heart and offered a peace treaty. We gladly accepted, the last thing we needed was a new enemy to fight. Although our military might had successfully cowed them for the time being, we were not sure how long our diplomats would be able to hold them at bay.

With operations on the German front scaled back, we could afford to send more forces after the French dogs. In 1172 our forces rolled into Marseille. Unable to match us in the field, the French dogs resorted to a more sinister tactic. They started inciting malcontents and rebels to rise up against us. All throughout nothern Italy, armed thugs were moving to raid towns, extort tolls, and disrupt vital trade routes. We had to recall our French army to put down this insurrection. Our settlements were not seriously threatened, but it would take a number of years to stamp out all of these rebels in our territory. Our efforts against the French were temporarily halted.

Meanwhile things were coming to a head on the Byzantine front. The war was going very badly for the Byzantines and they had lost over half their empire to our forces. Now they were massing their armies for the defence of their capital, Constantinople. Already a large army defended the city and there were more troops arriving daily. If we had any hope of taking the city we would have to act quickly, before it became too strong to take. We assembled the largest army we could muster and layed siege to the city. It was a fierce battle. Our army was decimated in the great battle. But the city fell to our forces. The sacking of this huge city brought in such much needed gold to our depleted coffers, which was under constant strain by the triple demands of war, construction, and keeping the Pope happy. We immediately moved to repair the damage to the city and its garrison. Taking Constantinople was one thing. Holding it, was quite another. Aside from the discontent of thousands of former Byzantine swine who were now our citizens, we still had to contend with the Byzantine army. They had rapidly regrouped after their defeat and already were laying siege to their former capital. Though heavily outnumbered, we barely managed to defeat the siege and Constantinople remained in our hands.

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[kublikhan3]

Disgrace
In 1176, the Pope's ultimatum had finally expired. We had an army camped outside German held Prague for just such an opportunity. After a short siege, we easily overwhelmed the garrison and sacked the city. With our main Germany army at Prague, Bartolomeo lead a smaller force against German held Staufen. Ideally we would have preferred to send a much larger force against Staufen. But one never could tell when Mount Saint Pierus would erupt again with threats of excommunication. So Bartolomeo had to march with the few troops that could be raised locally. However upon finally reaching Staufen, Bartolomeo was completely out matched and was defeated. He barely managed to escape with his life. Bartolomeo lead what few troops survived this disastrous battle in a disgraceful retreat back to Nuremburg. After three decades of embarrassing defeats to our forces, the Germans had been waiting for just such an opportunity. German standing in the international community had fallen to an all time low. Having to beg the Pope for protection was not how you impressed your neighbors. This victory over Bartolomeo finally gave them some much needed political ammunition to use against us. They did not hesitate to use it. There was not a noble in Europe who had not heard the tale of Bartolomeo running away with his tail between his legs from the legendary prowess of the German army. All our attempts to tell of how we inflicted casualties on the Germans at a rate of two to one, with Bartolomeo himself bagging twenty Germans fell on deaf ears. Our once fearful reputation, which had cowered the Portuguese into submission by the mere threat of retaliation, had been replaced by a reputation of bumbling fools who turn tale and run at the first sign of battle.

We were taken completely by surprise by the political damage the Germans had managed to inflict on us. It was after all a relatively minor setback in the grand scheme of things. But having long since lost their military edge against us, the Germans had switched their focus to the political front. Allying with the Pope and telling him daily tales of the atrocities we had committed to innocent German women and children had given their diplomats much practice in the art of diplomatic spin. The Germany army defeating the leader of the Venetians, well, they could not have asked for a more perfect story to spread. Foreign empires were already taking advantage of our weakening political position. The beleaguered French army has rallied and retaken Marseille. Portugal has ended its submissive attitude and done a complete about face. They landed troops at Cagliari again and laid siege to the city. All across our empire, our merchants had their assets seized, again, by increasingly confident competitors. There is not a single Venetian merchant left who has his enterprise intact. Byzantine rallied their navies and defeated our navy in several pitched battles. Denmark, who we have only recently established contact with, decided to flex their muscles as well. They sent an emissary to make demands of us.

"So this is the whimpering Bartolomeo I have heard so much about. I am surprised you even had the stomach to march all the way to Staufen. No wonder you turned tale and ran at the site of the German army. You look at though you couldn't even swat a fly."
"I grow weary of correcting the German lies they have spread about the battle of Staufen. State your business or leave."
"Very well. Now that you have expanded near our borders, we require a gift from you to stay our swords. We feel 1000 gold pieces will be enough to buy our protection, for now."
"The Venetians have no need of your 'protection'. We have personally destroyed two empires and two more will soon join their fate. It is you who should be paying for our protection."
"<LOL>. Your feeble armies are stretched thin as it is. With Portugal now joining the war against you, you would be wise to accept our offer. Pay us 1000 gold or we will attack!"
"Attack then. There are many German corpses who would welcome your company in our cemeteries. For now I advise you to leave before you join them as well."

And so 2 more empires had joined our growing list of enemies. We were now at war with more empires than anyone else in the world. Not counting rebels, we are currently at war with 5 empires: France, Germany, Byzantine, Portugal, and Denmark. Our Current Diplomatic Status:


Regroup
The gold demanded by Denmark was immaterial. This was just another attempt to make us look weak. Paying off Denmark not to attack us would be the equivalent of political suicide. A feeding frenzy would commence on the Venetian empire by our many rivals. Our standing up to Denmark averted this outcome. Still, Bartolomeo had a tough task ahead of him with the rebuilding of our image. Throughout all this turmoil, there was one source of strength Bartolomeo found he could rely on: the Council. Though often critical of him and his predecessor, Venetian pride was one thing they would never compromise on. The council lead the charge to rebuild our image and set many plans in motion to accomplish this task.

To rebuild the reputation of Bartolomeo's sullied battle prowess, the council suggested he lead our forces himself against the army from Denmark that was invading north of Nuremburg. He was joined by his son Gerarado, and his nephew Raynuicio. This show of strength started to dissipate the cloud of weakness that was permeating our image. Denmark began to second guess their attack and recalled their invading army.

To address the weakness of our merchants, the council established a master merchants guild in Naples. We began training new merchants and sent them to the island of Sicily to start bringing in the gold again. They would be safe from competitors here while they were still young and inexperienced. Once they gained some experience we could start thinking about seizing foreign enterprises.

On the Byzantine front, our armies and navies were regrouping at Constantinople. Many generals and troops were dispatched to aid Cristiano and Alysandro in their battles against the Byzantines. All of their armies and navies were driven out of our territory. He had finally broken the back of the Byzantine army. We began planning a final offensive against them that would wipe them out once and for all.

On the French front, one of the council's own was dispatched to set matters right. Benasuto, son of Bartolomeo and Faction Heir, lead an army to personally retake Marseille. It's capture by the French actually ended up being beneficial to us. We were able to sack the city a second time for another 10,000 gold. This helped ease the problem of our empty coffers.

On the Italian front, Bartolomeo's son-in-law, Benventto Morce, snuffed out the last of the rebels in Italy. He was joined by the 'sons of Selvo' and spread the word that he was coming for Portugal. On every front a message has been sent loud and clear: we are back.

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[kublikhan3]

Reinvigorated
The amount of energy that was flowing through our armies now was incredible. Every man wanted to be the first into battle, yet they all still maintained strict military discipline.
Even our city's citizens were doing their part for the war effort. Our cities were being built up with renewed vigour, and tax dollars were flowing freely into the treasury.

On the Byzantine front, we had laid siege to the last substantial Byzantine holding, Nicaea. Is was an enormous city, and we could barely hold our troops back when we told them of the plunder that awaited us. The Byzantines put up a decent fight, but in the end the city was ours. Almost 18,000 gold pieces were added to our coffers with the city's sacking. After the fall of Nicaea, Byzantine resistance crumbled. We marched our army on Smyrna and easily sacked the city. The last Byzantine holding was ours, their faction was no more.

Portugal managed to sack the defenseless city of Cagilula before Morce could relieve the city. It cost them much however. Pope Pierus was quick to condemn this act of wanton destruction and excommunicated the Portugese. It seemed Mount Saint Pierus had finally blown its top. Threats and demands were flying out of the Papacy at lightning speed. We were commanded to halt our operations against the French or be excommunicated. We were also ordered to join the crusade against Antioch. Bartolomeo was quite amused at this little man handing out orders as though he were the emperor of Europe. In the face of outright excommunication, we eased up a bit on the French until something else caught Pierus's attention. As for the crusade, we told Pierus ever so politely to piss off. We could ill afford to dispatch an army to Antioch, nor to make an enemy of a new faction. Our diplomats insisted on modifying the final wording of Bartolomeo's message to the Pope however.

On the German front, we assembled a powerful force to hit Staufen again, the source of our earlier defeat. Bartolomeo took our best troops and lead the assault himself. He left Raynuicio behind with some militia to keep an eye on the Danish. Somehow, the Germans caught wind of our movement and alerted the Pope. Again, Pierus threatens excommunication and we are forced to delay our assault.

The Letter
This time however, the brazen german diplomats had gone too far. Well known for manipulating the Pope, they had recently begun training their French allies in their techniques. We suspected as much after our recent campaign against the French came to a halt with threats of excommunication. We dispatched spies to attempt to gather evidence of the Germans manipulations. After months of digging around, they finally struck gold. The found a letter from a German diplomat stationed in France addressed to the German Kaiser. It contained candid language of the German manipulations and their status in training the French diplomats. A rough translation reads:

Dear Kaiser,
Our attempts to train the French diplomats are finally bearing fruit. I was begining to wonder if anything could get through their thick heads. Their foolish pride often had them demanding retaliation and military intervention from the Pope. Pah. We have know for decades that the most successful methods of Papal manipulation are parading crying widows and orphaned children about the Vatican. We have finally gained our first French diplomatic victories however. The French have been growing more and more alarmed with the three nation alliance on their southern border. That being Portugal, Spain, and the Moors. Worried they might try and seize some French territory while the French army was occupied with Venice, they desired to see them stopped through Papal means. Pah. Child's play. A german diplomat could accomplish this task in his sleep. Here was an aggressive faction, threatening Christian nations, allied with Islam no less, and they couldn't swing the whimpering Pierus to their cause? Where were they when we were convincing that fool we were the victims, even as we were invading Venice? But I digress... We simply instructed them to paint the most aggressive of the three, the Portugese, as allied with the Satanic forces of Islam. They did have the Moors as their vassals after all. With Moorish advisors twisting the Portugese to their ends, it was only a matter of time before a Christian faction fell under their barbaric sword. With this scenario filling Pierus's tiny head, all we had to do was sit back and wait for the Portugese to attack someone. A double bonus, they hit Venice instead of France! Not only did this draw Venice into a war with Portugal, it immediately provoked Pierus to excommunicate the Portugese.
Thus the French diplomats have finally graduated from preschool. Now I tasked them with a more challenging item: get Venice excommunicated. Already our tried and true techniques have gotten the Pope to issue an edict to Venice: attack France and get excommunicated. With my counterpart in Germany getting the same provision if Venice attacks Germany, we need only sit back and wait for Venice to grow frustrated and attack. With ocean to the south, allies to the east, and Papal edicts constraining them in the north and west, we need not wait long. That stubborn fool Bartolomeo will eventually attack us. Then, Venice will be excommunicated. This has been our ultimate goal for decades. Now we will finally see it come to fruition. And with the secret empire we are building in the holy lands, we will be able to marshal our forces in safety, far from the wrath of the Venetians. Then when the time is right, we collect are just due revenge. I hope this progress report pleases you.
Your loyal servant,
Gottfied Kniess

Revenge
Our diplomats wasted no time in delivering the letter to Pierus. Well aware the German's would deny writing it and/or accuse us of authoring the message, Our diplomats spent much time displaying the German seal on the envelope, comparing Gottfied's signature to Papal communiques, etc. We waited until he was finally convinced the letter was genuine before letting him read it. Boy, if we thought he blew his top earlier we hadn't seen anything yet. Pierus immediately tore up the treaty between the Papal States and Germany. But he didn't stop there. He also excommunicated the German faction. He was even on the verge of calling a crusade against Germany before his advisors were able to calm him down. They argued the candid language of one overzealous diplomat should not undue all the work the Germans had done: Capturing Jerusalem, Capturing Antioch, battling the vile Egyptians, etc. In the end, the Pope stopped short of calling a crusade on Germany. But he did end the Papal alliance with them and excommunicated their Kaiser. Truly, revenge was sweet. With Germany no longer under the Pope's protection, we were free to erase them from existence. After capturing Staufen, Bartolomeo marched on what few cities Germany had left in their possession and captured them. Although the Germans still had their holdings in the holy lands that they captured during their crusades, they no longer held any territory in Europe. Our long war with Germany and Byzantine and finally come to an end. Thought we may have wish to eliminate them at some point in the future, we had bigger fish to fry for now. For Denmark was making it's presence felt on our northern border.

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