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A Western War
The conflict in Ireland had sent shockwaves throughout Europe. With Western Europe embroiled in war, it gave many nations throughout Central and Eastern Europe to take a breather from the Sixteen Years War, and repair themselves. Sweden had time to rebuild, strengthening relations with Brandenburg and Saxony, and using their new ally in Hannover to reposition a fleet. Nevertheless, the Danish sound tolls would spell a coming conflict. But any conflict with Denmark would have to be postponed as Sweden began to repair itself.
Gustav had returned to Sweden a hero, and as the next few years went by, succession had become a major point of conflict. Upon returning home, many statesmen had come to him, attempting to negotiate an arranged marriage with Gustavus's daughter, Christina. Gustav needed to solve this issue, but Gustav was less concerned with succession than the management of his empire. It was his dream to force open the pesky sound tolls and let Sweden become a colonial power, to stake Sweden's claim on American soil and forge an overseas empire.
Christina herself was in near constant argument with her father. A military man and a firm believer in traditional duties, he came home appalled seeing Christina wandering Drottningholm Palace with untied hair, jogging in men's shoes and even taking an open interest in celibacy. Gustav wouldn't have it and immediately placed Christina in rigorous disciplinary training in order to change her ideals. This created a large divide between him and Christina, but Gustav was forced to recognize the threat to court stability Christina could cause if she kept her current attitudes.
Gustavus spent much of his time refitting the Swedish army, as he aimed to move onto a war with Denmark to break the monopoly over the Oxsund sound and open the North Sea to Swedish ships. Sweden's position in Pomerania had its forts renovated, and Gustav knew that the Hohenzollerns, who had gone into wars with him in the past, could be a great buffer between him and Austria if he played his cards right, so Gustav sent gifts and diplomats to Brandenburg in order to make sure relations were as nice as could be. Mecklenburg and Saxony too saw Swedish treatment, allowing Swedish troops to be positioned in Saxony, with the promise of Swedish payment for the troops and the Swedish payment of two new coastal forts for Mecklenburg.
The Habsburgs had their own court struggles. The Holy Roman Empire was reorganized, with new electors being given out. Bavaria was seen by Austria as a stepping stone to an idea that Ferdinand had, which was to centralize the Holy Roman Empire under the Habsburg banner. Maximilian of Bavaria had been seen as a loose cannon by the Austrians. The protestant revolt in Augsburg hadn't been put down, and the Bavarian army would not deal with it. Although Ferdinand saw fear in having Bavaria go protestant out of spite of the Habsburgs, Ferdinand only saw that as a success, as Ferdinand could then use that as a path towards placing a Habsburg on the throne of Bavaria, and locking down Southern Germany under the Habsburg domain, which would be a big boon, especially after the loss of the Benelux. And so Ferdinand came up with a devious plan.
Austria began to secretly fund the protestant rising and supported local protestant revolutionaries throughout Swabia. In order to destabilize Bavaria, Austria bought out nearby mercenaries, forcing Bavaria to use expensive foreign mercenaries or conscript its own population. The Austrians postured and threatened Bavaria, demanding they deal with the Protestants who now suddenly found a large boom after Austrian funding. The state of Wurzburg, which was on the decline, had been given an electorate. Wurzburg was a defiant rival to Bavaria and its addition would cripple Bavarian attempts at asserting herself. Despite this, Maximilian's absolutist policies were able to weather the storm and Bavaria did it's best to hold out against increasing Austrian influence, for now at least.
Richelieu has managed to negotiate a very successful treaty with the Netherlands. After nearly a year of haggling, the Dutch stadholder William II had agreed to certain negotiations. William knew the risks, with both Spain and England, the two largest naval powers in the world with their full force, William refused Richelieu's request of support, instead, Richelieu managed to make a decisive negotiation. Richelieu sold the colony of New France for payment in the transfer of 47,000 tonnages. The Dutch ceded a large fleet in exchange for New France, with the Richelieu offering the French Caribbean for 80,000. French Guadeloupe and Guyana were given to the Dutch, along with Martinique and recognition of Dutch Brazil. the Dutch had given even more than promised, giving a total of 152,000 tons of ships. This was a massive boon to Richelieu but effectively meant the French would have to start from scratch in terms of colonization, but Richelieu saw this as a worthwhile investment to defeat the English. Still, even with the new advantage, the French navy might still not be enough. Louis was angered at the treaty, but Richelieu was smart and made William sign a clause that the territory would only be given to the Netherlands in the event of a French victory. This made the Dutch openly interested in seeing the French win. This would be a catalyst and an interesting point within Dutch history.
The French amassed this fleet. Now they could finally move onto the offensive. the French combined the new Dutch fleet with their own to create a devastating armada that they could finally use to assault the Royal Navy.
The Scottish navy engaged the Spanish at the Battle of Sligo Bay. The battle was a Spanish victory, with the Scotts unable to stop the Spanish Armada. However many galleons had to withdraw, and so the Spanish fleet was very sensitive and tender in the months after the battle.
The Spanish successfully unloaded their army at Limerick, where Thomas had lost against Charles at Galway but had bought time for the Spanish to assemble their forces. An army of 56,000 had been assembled. Many of the Spanish died in transport, but all of these losses were replaced by the Irish. Thomas took charge of this army and decided to launch a counterattack. The Spanish army had been fed and greeted as heroes, being well rested, many of the Spanish were excited to be on land. Thomas was delighted to have the infamous Tercios, which rattled Gustavus's nearly impenetrable army in the Sixteen Year's War. Charles's army was beginning to starve, with the onset of winter, many feared the snow, and his exhausted army was weakened by guerilla warfare by Thomas's and Donough's troops. Charles decided to rest for some time, utilizing what little the peasantry had to feed his troops, and giving his men fish that had been captured from some of Galway's citizens on Friday hauls, and abused the fish demand to feed his army. Even then, Charles feared his current army might not beat the Spanish. The Scots promised more support, and parliament folded in some areas, with another 25,000 moving to Ireland once spring arrived in order to feed his troops. Charles's originally large army of 80,000 had reduced to 62,000, and the Spanish tercios could rip his forces apart if he wasn't careful. Charles soon got reports of a North-marching Spanish army of 49,000 riding towards Mountbellow. Charles decided to bring a force of 55,000 of his own to hold the area, deciding to use the flat plains as an ideal spot for his cavalry to damage the enemy.
Thomas rode to Mountbellow eager to redeem himself. The Spanish put a lot of trust in him and he didn't want to fail the crown. Thomas encountered Charles at Mountbellow, just as the first snow hit. A deep fog blanketed the battlefield and made vision harsh. Artillery would be much less useful in the thick snow. Charles still believed his defensive position would be enough to make Thomas bleed, but Thomas felt overjoyed. advisors reported hearing Thomas openly thank the lord for the snow, which he knew would give the Tercios the breathing space needed to get up close. Thomas held for a near hour, letting the snow lay the battlefield as many suffered from the cold. The Irish snow froze horses and made pikes stick to the hands of soldiers, and as many soldiers would die of hypothermia after the battle than during. Thomas then ordered an artillery barrage, emulating Gustavus's strategy at Podebrady. Kicking up the snow, the Tercios charged behind a cavalry probing attack. Charles had spotted the army through the fog and ordered his forces to brace. Clashing in the center had deterred the cavalry, but the Tercios slammed into the English line. After the Thomas sent his light infantry to attack the sides in order to tie down Charles's forces, and horses slapped against each other in the snow, with the now blizzard rendering even curaissers weak. As Charles began to lose control of the situation, he decided that instead of standing for a slaughter he would withdraw, deploying his pikemen to tie down the Spanish as he let his forces retreat. Charles suffered a major setback, with thousands dead, Charles would run back to form a forward defensive formation around the Lower Lough Earn and waited in East Ulster for reinforcements. The cold Irish winter would kill even more of his men, and the Spanish cheered as victory seemed close. But the war itself was nowhere near over.