A More Personal Union

[Thespitron 6000]

Winter 1592 - 1593: Times are tough for Alliance and League forces alike. In France, peasants starve and disease runs rampant, the land itself ravaged by mercenary armies who feed themselves first, and leave whatever remains to the hapless civilians. Ferdinand of Uceda, so confident at the start of the war, now finds his great Armada destroyed, and is forced back to square one. His armies in France are vulnerable, their long supply lines in constant danger of being cut, and if the French and English can get sufficient men in the field to both defend Paris and go on the offensive, Alva and Osuna will be in serious trouble.

For Henri, it is the third winter of blight and calamity on his nation. He has had no luck in expelling the Spanish, and although the English are welcome allies, they are inexperienced and often at loggerheads with the French. Meanwhile, Henri is having troubles during his fifteenth Great Council; revenues are being poured down the rathole that is the war, and although his Estates are in agreement that the Spanish must be defeated, in exchange for more funds they want more authority to help craft legislation. Henri is reluctant to compromise his own authority, but recognizes that the cooperation of the Council is necessary to assure victory. He grudgingly assents to a minor expansion of the Great Council’s ability to advise him on laws and taxes, but only after returning home from the field and discovering that his daughters do not have the money for new shoes.

In Scandinavia, Frederick of Denmark is becoming increasingly fed up with John of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg’s excess of caution. If the Danes had a daring commander, a competent commander, they would be in Stockholm by now. The Stures would be put to flight, and Frederick could turn his attention elsewhere. But none of that has happened, thanks to John's cowardice. A change of leadership may be necessary come spring.

Eggenberg, the last remaining besieger of Antwerp, had retreated, although not under duress, after Marischal and Montmorency succeeded in driving the Emperor and Auersperg away from the city; now he and Ernest plan for the inevitable Franco-Caledonian invasion of the Rhineland. Marischal and Montmorency’s army is small but effective, and the two commanders are well-yoked together. Now they plan a strike to bring the war into the Empire itself, plunging a knife towards Cologne.

In Savoy, John of Austria broods, furious that he has been unable to catch La Noue, who has led him on a merry chase, crossing over into the Duchy of Milan and bringing the war into Italy. Across northern Italy, militias and armies are hastily raised by the city-states there, as fear that the fighting between the Alliance and the League will spill over and condemn Italy to the same brutalization that has been inflicted on Savoy and the south of France. John is leery of following La Noue into Milan, as it is as likely that the local militias will fight him as La Noue. Although Milan is a Spanish fiefdom, there is little love for Philip and his son among the common folk, and the prospect of fighting his way across hostile country in pursuit of a dervish is not appealing; it would be easier to kill a butterfly with a hatchet.

The forgotten general of the war, Cardinal Albert, has spent the last year shoring up his hopelessly ill-equipped army, having been thoroughly thrashed by La Noue in 1591. To his surprise, he’s been getting more than adequate help from William the Pious of Bavaria, a Wittelsbach duke who should be the enemy of the Hapsburgs. But William is a Catholic before he is a Wittelsbach, and the prospect of a resurgent Reformation is abhorrent to him. With William’s help, Albert has managed to raise a sizeable army, and plans to move to aid Alva in the spring.

[Xgentis]

I feel sorry for Henri III he must feel powerless despise being king if his daughter can't buy shoes I am effray to even ask the state of the common people live in.

[The Duke of Waltham]

Originally Posted by Dunois

Has Bordeaux fallen by the way, since that was not explicitely mentionned?

Bordeaux fell in November 1591 (see second paragraph here).

[Thespitron 6000]

Stalemate

Europe 1593

After two years of brutal, grinding war, much of western Europe lies in ashes. The south of France has been ravaged and then ravaged again. Northern Italy has become a playground for the ambitions of Alliance and League both. In the Low Countries, blood spilt upon the ground mingles with flooded fields to dye the whole country red. And yet neither side is any closer to victory.

Come spring, it is once more into the breach. Throughout the winter, the English have been bolstering their force on the Continent, until it numbers nearly fifty thousand men, but they are still wedded to the old tactics of pike and shot; indeed, some Englishmen still go to war in full plate armor. While the French are pioneering new techniques involving new technologies, the fact that half their country is occupied by the enemy means that they are unable to bring these new methods of war to bear. The Spanish, at the end of a long tether, must make war with the constant threat of encirclement at their back, but their professionalism, and their ability to pay for mercenaries when other powers can’t, makes them formidable adversaries.

More and more troops are raised, to replace those that have fallen, and to offset the advances made by the enemy. By now, thousands of Scots have joined Henri’s beleaguered forces in northern France, while Albert’s army in the southern Rhineland threatens to spill over and tip the balance in favor of the League. In April, Portuguese troops land for the first time in France, south of Bordeaux, and march towards Pamplona, hoping to cut the throat of the Navarrese navy on land.

By now the powers are beginning to get the feel for modern warfare: mercenaries are not to be trusted, battles are to be avoided, and the real target is the enemy’s infrastructure. Destroy his croplands, his castles and cities, and victory may yet be in your grasp. As a result, armies run rampant, dodging one another as they despoil the countryside. On multiple occasions, intense negotiations take place before battles, as commanders bid for the services of mercenary captains.

The result of this avoidant strategy is that only three major battles are fought this year, each defined more by what they failed to accomplish than what they did.

In May, Marischal and Montmorency plunge deep into the Rhineland, hoping to skewer the Imperials under Eggenberg and inflict a fatal blow. Instead, they encounter a combined force of Albert’s Bavarians and Swabians under Auersperg. Outnumbered, they have no choice to retreat after a six hour battle that bleeds both sides heavily but concludes nothing.

Alva avoids giving battle until the summer months, maneuvering around Orleans while sacking the land. In July, Francois de Montmorency, that old warhorse, dies, leaving generalship of his army to no one in particular; as a result, when the French army meets the Spanish shortly thereafter, the French are soundly thrashed, but not soundly enough to break their spirit. Despite losing five thousand men, they block Alva from moving against Paris and stymieing him until fall. A war previously typified by massive, sledgehammer battles has now become one of maneuver and position; as Osuna writes in his log, “Position is the master.” Armies are too precious to be squandered in wasteful battles, so battles should be fought only on one’s own terms. It is a difficult lesson, but one the generals are learning well.

The Portuguese begin besieging Pamplona in May, the hapless Navarrese cut off from France by ten thousand Portuguese pikemen. Their great general Roquelaure having died in 1589 of a heart attack, they appear defenseless, and Jorge de Lencastre, the Portuguese general, lays in the siege. But hope comes in the form of young Pierre de Etampes, illegitimate son of Jean de Brosse, Duke of Etampes, who hopes that his daring on the battlefield will result in the King recognizing his claim to the duchy of Etampes. Leading three thousand men, Etampes counterattacks, hitting the Portuguese hard. However, his native talent for war is not enough to make up for his small numbers, and his men are beaten back.

In Italy, La Noue and John of Austria continue to shadow-box each other, while the Italian countryside goes to rack and ruin. More than once, the quondam combatants must make war against the native Italian levies, which they make short work of; all the talented Italian warriors are already mercenaries in France. La Noue dares not linger in one place long enough to besiege Milan or Turin or Florence; instead he burns everything he encounters, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.

The only bright spot of the year comes in the north. Frederick sacks Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, and puts in his place young Viktor, the crown prince. Viktor, bold where Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg was cautious, immediately goes on the offensive as soon as spring arrives. The Sture brothers now find themselves seriously outmatched. Viktor is a womanizer, a gambler, a lackadaisical administrator, but he is also a general with charisma, insight, and dash to burn, and he sets out to crush the Swedes. By July, his army has reached the suburbs of Stockholm, and smashing the Stures in the beginning of August, Viktor besieges the Swedish capital, John III and his family trapped inside.

It is now clear to the Alliance leaders that the two sides are too evenly matched. A killer blow will not occur in 1593, at least, not in Europe. Money is running out; France cannot endure much more of this savagery. Should the Germans finally lose their reticence about committing themselves fully to crushing the Alliance, what their own Protestants think be damned, then it will be the end. Even with England and Scotland on her side, France cannot fight Spain and the Empire as they are now. If victory is to come, it must come from another quarter. But how to break the stalemate? It is young Walter Raleigh, that dashing mercenary who faired so well in Ireland, who proposes a solution. His experiences in Ireland have taught him the effectiveness of an insurgent campaign, and, what’s more, that they can be fought on the cheap. To Elizabeth Tudor, he proposes an elegant solution. Spain is destroying France’s ability to fight by destroying her wealth; do the same to Spain, and her power will crumble.

Seizing at once on the idea, military planners in London and Paris expand on Raleigh’s proposal. Spain’s wealth lies overseas, on plantations and in mines, worked by slaves whose loyalty to the Crown of Spain is nonexistent. Cut out the legs of Spanish control and the slaves might be roused to rebellion. A working group, headed by the wily Francis Walsingham, begins to plan such a campaign. After examining the figures, he concludes that the Spanish control over their slave empire is weaker than it seems; it might not be so expensive to knock the Spanish Caribbean out of the war with the well-placed application of a few muskets and pikes. But that will have to wait until 1594, until ships are built and armories filled.

In October 1593, Stockholm falls to the Danes. Panicked Swedes flee the city even as Danish troops pour in. John is captured, along with his three daughters. Viktor is careful to treat them with respect, ever mindful of the fact that he may need to negotiate with the Swedish king at a later date. But the Stures escape along with most of their army and the Riksdag, and vow to keep up the fight. Fearing that John may make a separate peace with the Danes, and even more fearful of a potential alliance between the single Viktor and one of John’s attractive, vivacious daughters--his only heirs--the Stures badger the Riksdag, already in a state of disarray, into declaring John deposed; Nils Sture, the older of the two brothers, seizes power and proclaims himself Nils I, the founder of a new dynasty. His first order of business is to abjure the alliance with the League. Such attachments to Papists will not be tolerated under the new regime, and besides, how much help has Sweden gotten from them so far?

[Saya Aensland]

Originally Posted by Thespitron 6000

In October 1593, Stockholm falls to the Danes. Panicked Swedes flee the city even as Danish troops pour in. John is captured, along with his three daughters. Viktor is careful to treat them with respect, ever mindful of the fact that he may need to negotiate with the Swedish king at a later date. But the Stures escape along with most of their army and the Riksdag, and vow to keep up the fight. Fearing that John may make a separate peace with the Danes, and even more fearful of a potential alliance between the single Viktor and one of John’s attractive, vivacious daughters--his only heirs--the Stures badger the Riksdag, already in a state of disarray, into declaring John deposed; Nils Sture, the older of the two brothers, seizes power and proclaims himself Nils I, the founder of a new dynasty. His first order of business is to abjure the alliance with the League. Such attachments to Papists will not be tolerated under the new regime, and besides, how much help has Sweden gotten from them so far?

*rooting for a neo-Kalmar Union in two generations*

Probably not gonna happen, but I can hope, can't I?

[Xgentis]

I am not sure what will happend to Sweden I seriously doubt the "new king" will get any support.

[Thespitron 6000]

Spring 1594: Endless forests. Titanic rivers. Impassible mountains. Acres upon acres of treacherous swamps. It is into this primeval landscape that the Alliance has elected to make its next thrust. Philip’s New Spain, stretching from Mexico in the north to Patagonia in the south, from Guadalajara in the west to Santo Domingo in the east, and resting on the backs of thousands of slaves, is the engine that runs the League’s war effort. Now the Alliance wishes to ram a dagger into the heart of that empire. At best, the Spanish control of their slave empire is tenuous. A few swords, put into the right hands at the right time, could instigate a major revolt. Experience in Ireland has taught the Alliance that an insurgency is much harder to fight than to mount. Reckoning that for a minimal investment, the Alliance cans stir up some major trouble for Philip and his allies, in February, two small fleets set sail from Plymouth, their hulls laden with pikes, cannon, muskets, and swords. One of these fleets, helmed by "Wicked" Hal Finch, is bound for Cuba, carrying five hundred hardened mercenaries under the command of Geoffrey de Bourbon, the “bloody prince” of Conde, and the poet-mercenary captain Black Bill Shakespeare. Their mission is simple: take Cuba away from the Spanish, by any means necessary.

The other fleet is bound for Peru. Headed by Walter Raleigh, its mission is to raise the slaves around the mines of Potosí, depriving the Spanish of their silver. To do this, they’ll have to fight their way across Peru and into the Andes, resisting the Spanish occupiers and arming any slaves they free along the way. It is a difficult mission, by any stretch of the imagination.

With this in mind, Bourbon and Shakespeare land at the point of Guantanamo, having successfully dodged the Spanish pickets, in early April, and begin moving inland, hoping to avoid enemy troops before reaching the jungle and commencing guerrilla warfare. Raleigh’s journey is much longer, taking him nearly six months to sail around Tierra del Fuego and back up to Peru, but he and his ships make it, eventually. Landing near Iquique, Raleigh and six hundred mercenaries avoid the town and begin the assault of a much more dangerous and challenging enemy: the Andes.

[Grouchio]

Hopefully Shakespeare survives and manages to write his plays after the Great War!

[Razgriz 2K9]

I smell Slave Revolt in Cuba, and Incan War of Independence in Peru...

Incan War of Independence? Are there any influential Quecha capable of leading such revolts? Can we see a more Westernized (or Europeanized) Inca in the future?

[Xgentis]

I have the feeling Geoffrey de Bourbon will uncover something horrible in Cuba.

[naraht]

With Stockholm captured, the question is when will the Danes be able to push south.

Are the Russians in any shape to take advantage of Swedish weakness (haven't heard much from the Russian/Ottoman war)? (are the Poles?)

If the Poles haven't attacked the Danes while they are fighting in the North, I doubt they will do so when the Danes attack south. How much would the Danes be exposed as they attack south if they leave a buffer between the Poles and the Danish Army?

[Shawn Endresen]

Potosi's quite a gamble. Success would break Spain, but who dreams of making an assault across the Andes mountains?

I sincerely doubt there is any "native" locus of rebellion at this point, nor would Raleigh really want one, but the likelihood of convincing a "creole" local to proclaim himself King of Peru is pretty good. Peru isn't nearly as well governed as New Spain, and the grandchildren of the original conquistadors have mounted at least two rebellions and murdered at least two viceroys in the last 50 years. I'd like to see one of the Martin de Bustinza or Pedro Marquez de Galeoto crowned, but these dark days may require a...firmer...hand. King Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala would probably be too much to ask for, since he's probably still a landowner and translator of no great fame at this point.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by Xgentis

I have the feeling Geoffrey de Bourbon will uncover something horrible in Cuba.

You mean young William Drake, having been adopted by a Spanish Administrator willing to fight for the Spanish Crown?

[Xgentis]

Originally Posted by naraht

You mean young William Drake, having been adopted by a Spanish Administrator willing to fight for the Spanish Crown?

More like horrible treatment of the slaves.

[Yorel]

Originally Posted by Thespitron 6000

the poet-mercenary captain Black Bill Shakespeare

William Shakespeare as a mercenary captain? Cool

[naraht]

Originally Posted by Xgentis

More like horrible treatment of the slaves.

I'm not really sure there is much they could discover about the treatment of slave that they don't know already.

Frankly, the fact that half of the powers of Europe are at least somewhat anti-slavery at this point (if only to hurt Spain) is probably going to change the world more than the Union....

[Thespitron 6000]

Winter 1593 - 1594: Viktor of Denmark is not one to let even the harshness of the Swedish winter slow him down. Even though the cold is incredibly brutal, he continues to hammer the Stures, never relenting. The Stures, despite their earlier defiance, are beginning to realize that they cannot win. At least, not as the war stands now. They have, however, a strong hand should they decide to push for a separate peace. Peace between Denmark and Sweden will suit both sides. For Frederick and Viktor, the real enemy is to the South, the massive and vulnerable Empire. For the Stures, they need a chance to consolidate their new regime. As a result, in January peace talks are opened. Frederick is willing to recognize, at least provisionally, Nils Sture’s claim to be King of Sweden; the Danish crown prince has, over the winter, married Anna Vasa, the youngest daughter of John III, and as a result, the Danes have a ready-made claim to the Swedish throne in their pocket. They’re willing to go along with the Stures’ pretensions for now. In return for Danish recognition and an end to the war, the Sture government agrees to partial disarmament. The Stures are no fools, and no cowards either, but before they can attempt the liberation of their country from the occupying Danes, they need to shore up their admittedly shaky hold on power. So they are willing to disarm against the Danes, for the moment, and resume war against them later when it’s more convenient.

With Sweden knocked out of the war, the Danes are now free to turn southward, towards the Protestant north of the Holy Roman Empire, its most vulnerable point. Frederick is already building an army to march south into Saxony and Mecklenburg as soon as spring comes, an army to liberate the “oppressed” Protestants of northern Germany.

[Xgentis]

After this Sweden is finished as a major power I don't think it will be able to recover anytime soon. For the protestant german states this is a disaster they are in a war they did not want fighting against enemies that have more in common with them then their "allies".

[Space Oddity]

Sweden wasn't even a major power to begin with at this point in time. 16th century Sweden is not the crazy proto-Prussia powerhouse that is 17th century Sweden--it's an isolated nation with a small population, hanging on through sheer willpower.

[Thespitron 6000]

May 1594: 200 colonists from Owari Province on Honshu arrive in Yosei Engoku aboard three ships. They are to construct a small trading post and harbor, whose primary purpose is to provide a safe haven for Japanese ships far closer to the Spice Islands than Japan is; with Japan more than 2500 miles away, merchant vessels are in danger of storms, pirates, lack of supplies, and other hazards, and need somewhere safe to run to. The new town, called Kitsuminato (lit: “fox harbor”), is to serve that purpose. The colonists are also to explore the new continent, search for valuable materials like jade, precious woods, spices, and gold, and catalog the native wildlife and peoples, so that they can be brought to better serve the Emperor. Also in the expedition is a unit of forty ashigaru under the command of the young daimyo Fukushima Masanori, who has been promised ample rewards when he returns home from this remote posting. Fukushima also sees the opportunity for personal enrichment here in Yosei Engoku, as he has heard the stories peddled by Dutch and Navarrese sailors at the Regent’s court about the wealth found by the Spanish and Portuguese in the New World. This is a new world, isn’t it? He and his men look forward to adventure and plunder in the months and years to come.