The Silver Knight, a Lithuania Timeline
- Thread starter Augenis
- Start date
This is going to be an extremely bloody war from the looks of it. With the Ottoman's still being a military power, this will help thin out the armies of the Catholic Powers. I can see them breaking up the Triple monarchy with Lithuania into satellite states with South slavic regions being incorporated into Rumelia. Speaking of which will Lithuania have different relations with the Ottomans, or will it be like OTL with the Russian's chipping away at the sick man of Europe.
If its anything like the OTL, they may be converted but they still keep many of the traditions and festivals that came with their brand of Paganism
That's true. Much like IOTL Catholics, the Orthodox priests worked within the frameworks of Lithuanian pagan beliefs to appeal to the masses.
Not sure how true it is I have also read that in some areas, that as soon as the priests and missionaries passed though the villages, folks would set their old shines back up. At best they were converted on paper.
That was also correct. Even as far as the 17th century, folk beliefs were being practiced among a large portion of Lithuanian peasantry.
The main reason for that was that at the time, there were almost no Lithuanian speaking priests, all of them were Polish or at least heavily Polonized, and so the liturgy was all held in a language that the locals did not understand. Of course, Polonization is not a problem in this TL, at least.
Chapter 32: Northern Lights
Part 32: Northern Lights (1620-1622)
Some news from outside of Lithuania came up, too. The Volga Russians, hardy and determined as they are, successfully beat back an another attack by the Kazan Khanate, and even took the fight to them. The Kazan campaign took place from 1617 to 1622, and led to the final destruction of the Khanate. Most of it's southern and southeastern Tatar-populated territories along the river were annexed by the Volgaks directly, while the far northern lands - populated by local tribes like the Komi, Erzya and Moksha Mordvins, Mari and Chuvash - simply separated from the Khanate and began to live an independent life. Small feudal states began to crop up in the upper Volga and to the north, vying for the unification of their culture and sometimes even expanding beyond, which was worrying to the Voivode of Nizhny Novgorod, the most eastern region in Lithuania that now bordered these statelets directly. On the Catholic-Reformist War, news came from the West - French legions successfully pushed back Spanish forces from Savoy and Milan, occupying the two Italian principalities, albeit at a large human cost. Prince Charles of Austria, the Reformist claimant to the crown of the Archduchy, went back on the offensive, renewing the Austrian Civil War and fully entering the greater conflict on the side of the Munich League.
Lithuania, meanwhile, was now focused on Sweden. The Royal Lithuanian Navy left port for the first time in the war to lay down a sea blockade on Livonia and thus prevent them from receiving any Swedish reinforcements. A good strategy, but it was broken to pieces as soon as the Swedish moved their main fleet - a much bigger and more modern force - to the Baltic. In May of 1621, the Lithuanian and Swedish fleets clashed at the Irbe Strait Skirmish, a short engagement which nevertheless saw a decisive end to the blockade of Livonia. The Lithuanian fleet only had two galleons alongside the numerous small ships - the Princas Albertas and the Jūrų raitelis - both of which were sunk. The Swedes had six, and only one of them received any damage, that being to the mast. With the blockade defeated and the Lithuanian navy forced to stay in port for the rest of the war, the path was open for Swedish reinforcements in Livonia.
And they needed them more than ever.
The Livonian army - still for the most part organized under feudal ideas and not up to par to European standard - captured a few towns in Kurzeme, but was soon forced to retreat with the appearance of Sergei Ostrogski's 25 000 men army coming from the east. Crossing the Daugava at Polotsk, the army moved along the river with their primary target being Riga. Dynaburg, the southern fortress of the Livonian nation, was the first to fall, doing so after a siege during the fall of 1620. The first Swedish soldiers, a regiment of 3000 men, landed in Reval around that time as well - further reinforcements were prevented by a lengthy campaign in Norway and Denmark, however. Compared to most other armies across Europe at the time, the Swedish army was an oddity - due to the country's sparse population, it was unable to either field large armies en masse like Lithuania, nor could it spend lots of money on an efficient mercenary corps like the Netherlands. It's forces, however, relied on strict discipline, standing professional forces and keeping up to date with the most recent technological advancements - a module that was already being adopted by it's neighbours and even farther nations, to the point that one could say that Sweden sparked a "military revolution" of some sorts.
Swedish musket infantry
While Ostrogski's forces were slowly advancing north during winter, short engagements and skirmishes echoed across Karelia. The Novgorod voivodeship infantry clashed with Swedish levied troops from Finland in the Karelian Isthmus. Neither side was able to gain an advantage due to the small sizes of the forces and ineffective tactics in such an environment, plus, the freezing weather killed far more soldiers on both sides than they could themselves. The Baltic Sea was almost completely frozen in that winter, so the Swedes could not bring any more men to relieve Livonia - they did, however, prepare for a possible invasion of Lithuania through Karelia.
On the Visegrad front, the main Lithuanian army finally captured Krakow, spending over six months on the siege and losing a sizable portion of their army. Albertas Jogaila I was growing impatient. The Bear was being held back by two Westerner countries, and that didn't resonate well with him - additional armies were demanded to be raised over the next year for a "final blow to the West". On the first months of 1621, an army sent by Pomerania crossed the Vistula and defeated the Lithuanian troops in East Prussia, but were unable to advance any more forward due to heavy attrition and stiff opposition. In Livonia, things were heading to a far different direction. Bolstered by additional volunteers from Courland and Polotsk, the northern Lithuanian army began a second offensive. Throughout the spring, Ostrogski's army captured Kreutzburg, Ascheraden and Kircholm and were now on the doorstep of Riga, the largest city in the whole Confederation.
Swedish forces were too late to arrive, and the Livonian feudal army was decisively defeated in the Battle of Segewold (Sigulda) on June of 1621, in a battle that supposedly only took about 40 minutes. The Lithuanian Chronicle describes that the orderly Lithuanian musketeer troops only had to fire a few volleys before the Livonians were weakened enough for the cavalry to pick them apart, though the accuracy of the statement is still up for grabs. With Segewold lost, Riga was surrounded, and the castle was besieged. After two months of siege and bombardment, the city surrendered, and the heart of Livonia fell to the hands of the Lithuanians. Sergei Ostrogski began negotiations with the government of the city on their status after the end of Livonia, offering the city - without informing the King - autonomy status like what was given to cities in East Prussia after the final Teutonic-Lithuanian War.
Of course, the war was still not own. The Lithuanian forces occupied most of Latgale during the summer of 1621, destroying old Livonian government structures in preparation of ushering in a new Lithuanian administration. Albertas Jogaila I approved on the plan of a complete annexation of Livonia - to him, this German-dominated state was like a sharp blade stabbing his country towards the heart. The heart being Vilnius. However, over 10 000 Swedish soldiers were now in Livonia, too, based in Reval and the region of Estland around it. The Battle of Voru in September between a Swedish regiment and a Lithuanian cavalry raider party saw the slowdown of the Lithuanian advance into Livonia, and the Pernau Campaign in the fall and winter of 1621, where Ostrogski's army tried to break into Estland and capture Reval, proved to be a victory for the Catholics. The Lithuanians were pushed back from Reval, and while they held onto Pernau and eventually took Dorpat and Narva, the Livonia campaign was no longer a victorious ride over a weaker country.
The Swedes established a defensive perimeter in the Reval region, holding onto this heart of Estland as hard as possible. Food supplies and the freezing sea wouldn't let them stay here forever, but Albertas Jogaila I was impatient. And he had a reason to be impatient. Because if Livonia holds on despite being overrun and becomes a thorn in his war effort, then how will he be able to achieve his "victorious march to the West" that he always wanted?
Something had to be done about this situation...
Good show old chap!
Heh, I guess the Tatars really are not getting with the times if even broken refugee Russians can conquer them! Say, how much intermingling has there been between Russians and Tatars in Volga Russia?
Heh, I guess the Tatars really are not getting with the times if even broken refugee Russians can conquer them! Say, how much intermingling has there been between Russians and Tatars in Volga Russia?
Not much so far. It's bound to get bigger once more Tatar-inhabited lands fall under the Volgaks and the stream of fleeing serfs slows down, though.
Happy Day of the Restoration of the Statehood of Lithuania!
99 years ago, 20 people in Vilnius signed a single page document that eventually led to the restoration of the country we're reading about here.
Did you know? One of the main leaders of the movement for Lithuanian independence during World War I, Jonas Basanavičius, died on February 16, much like Justinas Marcinkevičius, one of the main members of the Sąjūdis who had a great effect on restoring the Republic of Lithuania in the 1980s and 1990s? The figureheads of both Lithuanian independence movements died on the same day as the day when Lithuania was restored.
99 years ago, 20 people in Vilnius signed a single page document that eventually led to the restoration of the country we're reading about here.
Did you know? One of the main leaders of the movement for Lithuanian independence during World War I, Jonas Basanavičius, died on February 16, much like Justinas Marcinkevičius, one of the main members of the Sąjūdis who had a great effect on restoring the Republic of Lithuania in the 1980s and 1990s? The figureheads of both Lithuanian independence movements died on the same day as the day when Lithuania was restored.
Chapter 33: Breakthrough
Part 33: Breakthrough (1622-1625)
In Lithuania, meanwhile, new troops were raised - the nobility was called to war, and the Russian voivodeships mobilized their units, too. These large reinforcements could drastically change the outcome of the war, so where will they be sent? Albertas Jogaila I ordered something... weird - the troops are to be sent to the Polish front, while he and the primary Lithuanian army march north to deal with Sweden. This decision was heavily influenced by recent news that arrived to his camp - scouts informed him that the Swedes, having dealt with the Danish, were sending a relief force through Finland to break the "siege" of Estland and retake all of Livonia. This force was led by the King of Sweden himself. Defeating Sweden became the prime priority of the Bear King, and thus he abandoned the good positions he had in Poland to deal with the northern front first. Stephen Bathory's Visegrad armies quickly used this opportunity to begin an offensive campaign into southern Poland.
On the way to Livonia, Albertas Jogaila I arrived to East Prussia, and his 30 000 men large army engaged the three times smaller army of the Duchy of Pomerania, which was slowly advancing through the region. The Battle of Allenstein saw a quick, but powerful victory for the Lithuanians - the Pomeranian forces weren't even aware that the Lithuanians were in the region until it was too late, and a sudden Lithuanian light cavalry charge broke the mercenary troops quite easily, with great losses on their sides. The Prussian front was secure. Sweden was next.
In the spring of 1623, King Albertas arrived to Dorpat, and almost exactly as he came, the news of Krakow falling back to the hands of Visegrad, and a large Swedish army appearing in Karelia, arrived as well. The situation was getting problematic. There was no time to wait. Bolstered with General Ostrogski's forces, the Royal Army poured into the Estland perimeter, beginning the Reval Campaign. The Lithuanians had 40-45 thousand soldiers on their side, while the Swedish and Livonian defenders could barely muster 17 000. The sea was still frozen and had been frozen since last autumn, so help could not arrive. In addition, the Swedes found themselves fighting a problem they did not expect to have - food shortages. Estonia was not a very fertile land as it was, and now, wrecked and burned by war and conflict, it could barely grow anything at all. Streaks of famine across the land were being reported one after another, and the army stockpile was running on fumes. This was the primary reason for Sweden sending a relief force, but it was too late, it seems... In April, the Lithuanian forces began their move north, capturing Paide and Viljandi with little opposition, and defeating small Livonian detachments on the way. The showdown between the starved defenders and the Lithuanians came near the town of Kegel (Keila), pretty much on the outskirts of Reval.
The Battle of Keila was, interestingly enough, a much closer fight than Albertas Jogaila I anticipated. The Swedish infantry formed the front line, managing to resist numerous Lithuanian volleys and cavalry charges despite their weak condition, hunger and small numbers. The Lithuanian Chronicle details that the Swedes used an interesting tactic to counter the pistol and sword armed Lithuanian light cavalry - forming hollow infantry squares in anticipation for a charge, which was surprisingly effective. However, the young King was quick to crack this tactic, and after 6 hours of intense combat that left many dead on both sides, the Royal Lithuanian Army came out victorious. The week after, Lithuanian troops were already marching into Reval, which surrendered without a fight. While the Swedes successfully seized the islands of Osel and Dago, mainland Livonia had been lost, and never to return.
Interesting thing to note - the Livonian War was also the time when Albertas's first son, Jonas, was born. There were, and still are, rumors that Prince Jonas was not born to the King's wife, Margarita Radvilaitė from Utena, but rather to a captured Estonian farmer's girl, named Katrin, during the annexation of Livonia. They are usually dismissed as mere hoaxes, though.
Albertas Jogaila I in the Battle of Keila (1854 painting)
The Battle of Antrea happened in September of 1623, and was the last major battle fought in the Swedish-Lithuanian "front" of the Catholic-Reformist War. The location for the battle was one of the worst that you could imagine - a swamp-ridden, lightly forested strip of land near a group of lakes. The difficult terrain made movement slow and cavalry ineffective, and Albertas Jogaila I adjusted to the different circumstances beforehand. The large Lithuanian army was spread out and divided into small sub-units, capable of moving fairly uninhibited by swamps and forests that riddled the land, and spread them out on a wide and narrow "front", facing the enemy. This division into tiny units, each commander by only a few officers, gave the Lithuanians much greater mobility and speed in the battle, which turned out to be the deciding factor of the clash.
Erik XV's Swedish forces arrived a few days later, during which Lithuanian scouts thoroughly inspected the area, marking down and informing the leadership of any paths, shortcuts or dangerous areas. Much like the Bear's ancestors, the medieval Lithuanian pagan warriors desperately resisting the Teutonic crusades, he relied on the terrain, and on fooling the enemy. This was not Lithuanian swamp with secret paths and preplanned defenses, but it's better than nothing. The Swedish forces, despite reports telling them of a large Lithuanian army facing them, only seemed to find a few scattered units here and there, but a sudden volley from a dense nearby forest cleared this confusion out - the Lithuanians were tricking them! After a few volleys, the skirmishers disappeared back into the forest, only for a large frontal attack to slam into Swedish ranks. Despite both forces taking just as heavy casualties, the Lithuanians suddenly retreated, distracting and confusing the surprised soldiers. Even more side attacks followed, none of them breaking the enemy, or even trying to...
What happened was a classic Lithuanian harassment tactic - attacking with an element of surprise, dealing as much damage as possible, then pulling back to safety and repeating, and so on. Medieval Lithuanian light cavalry was famous for their feigned retreats and their harassment of enemy ranks, and here, in this narrow isthmus in the far north, Albertas Jogaila I, their progeny, rediscovered them. The Lithuanian harass continued until Erik XV ordered his troops to retreat, moving back to Vyborg. Here, negotiations for an armistice between the two nations begun. To Sweden, it was clear that Lithuania was not going to be beaten anytime soon, and the Scandinavian nation was running short on additional recruits to match the Easterner war machine. Already, the occupation of Norway was eating up a lot of their resources, and staying stubborn and fighting on could mean even greater losses for Sweden. In the Treaty of Vyborg, Sweden officially recognized Lithuania's annexation of Livonia, though held onto Osel and Dago, the two large islands on the western Estonian coast that Lithuania was unable to access. No reparations were to be paid by either nation, though Sweden also agreed to lift the naval blockade on Lithuania that had been held for some time now, and was severely hampering the Lithuanian economy.
With the northern front secure, King Albertas moved his massive horde back south, where Visegrad and it's Stephen Bathory awaited. The reinforcements that were sent in 1622 didn't hold the line well, and throughout the two years of relative calm Visegrad managed to regain most of Lesser Poland and even begun incursions into Podolia. The Western front was collapsing, though - Maximilian IV was suffering one defeat after another, and only a Venetian and Visegradian intervention saved Vienna from being captured, and France was making steady pushes into Northern Italy and Spain. Only the North was a Catholic victory - Denmark was severely weakened, Scotland got annexed, and the North German cities and duchies pushed back one Reformist campaign after another thanks to their capable mercenary armies. Capable, but at the same time abhorrent. In many documented cases, mercenaries in all sides, if not paid well enough, would take the fight to the civilians, loot and steal as much as their heart desires in conquered lands, and commit some of the greatest atrocities in recent times. Both Catholic and Reformist chroniclers say one thing - the peasants die in droves from hunger and looting, diseases are rampant, entire, formerly fledgling cities become ghost towns, and anger over military losses is constantly released on innocent locals.
"The Great Miseries of War", a 1624 etching
Following Sweden, Visegrad signed an armistice with Lithuania, the Treaty of Lublin, on June of 1624. Podolia and Galicia all the way to Przemysl and the Carpathians was ceded, and the two countries agreed to "an eternal peace between the two nations, for our time and for the time of our progeny". Both signatories thought of this as only a temporary redrawing of lines, though - as soon as conditions line up, both would be more than glad to break the treaty for whatever they seek. But that is a story for another time.
While Visegrad enacted emergency conscription and rallied all available troops to fight the Turkish threat encroaching on Budapest, peace finally returned to Lithuania. At a great loss of life - more than 30 000 Lithuanian soldiers laid their heads for these victories, and who knows how many civilians were lost in terror in Livonia, Galicia and East Prussia... The prestige of the Bear King rose to new heights, dozens of poems and panegyrics were written about him, and this young warrior monarch found himself beloved by even the most cynical of nobles.
But even though war exhaustion was already gripping Lithuania's heart, Albertas Jogaila I was not done yet. Ooh no. Which country stole Lithuania's Black Sea coast? Which nation has been propping up Crimean raiders to loot it's Ruthenian provinces? The King has not disbanded his forces yet, the final enemy remains.
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Sorry for brief inactivity
Sounds like Britannia shall NOT rule the waves! This will be a very different world.
17th century infantry squares as well? This will be interesting.
Lieutva you opportunist!
I think the Crimea is toast. If the Turks are smart, they will concentrate on eviscerating Hungary rather that wasting cannon fodder on propping another useless Khanate.
17th century infantry squares as well? This will be interesting.
Lieutva you opportunist!
I think the Crimea is toast. If the Turks are smart, they will concentrate on eviscerating Hungary rather that wasting cannon fodder on propping another useless Khanate.
Ryan
Donor
it's only the early 17th century, Britain's navy at this point in otl wasn't anything impressive either.
I think Britain will end up having a top tier navy anyway; with great Britain unified there's no need for an army and any enemy will have to come by sea, necessitating a navy for defence.
on the subject of Britain, will the English be pushing to assimilate the English speaking lowlander scots? if they're successful then the concept of a Scottish people's will be reduced to Gaelic speaking highlanders who only number, at most, in the 100's of thousands.
In addition, it should be mentioned that England hadn't fully recovered from the Flammantian Wars at the time, rebuilding a navy to it's full capacity and paying off the huge loans hey put on their shoulders took a lot of their resources, so it's obvious that they weren't as well prepared for the Catholic-Reformist War as, say, the Dutch.
As for the Scottish, well, all I can say is that they are in a much, much worse position than OTL. This England is uninterested in any of those "Acts of Union", or even letting the Scots have any sort of autonomy, after all. Yes, assimilation is in order.
Anyway. I don't usually do Wikiboxes, but when I do, it's to make a little bit of a hint for the next chapter:
I guess since I'm not technically double-posting anymore, so I won't go back and edit my older post. So, a couple of things:
1) Did the little map on the wikibox count as the post-war map you promised us, or is it seperate?
2) Unless I missed something, Ireland is still Catholic right? Does this mean that they'll be treated better by the English?
3) What was happening in the New World during this time period, or will that be covered next update?
1) Did the little map on the wikibox count as the post-war map you promised us, or is it seperate?
2) Unless I missed something, Ireland is still Catholic right? Does this mean that they'll be treated better by the English?
3) What was happening in the New World during this time period, or will that be covered next update?