The Mila-Scottish Wars
This is a story written during a campaign as Scotland on VH/VH. As for a setting, Scotland controls England and much of French territory. The English have been removed while France controls Rheims alone. The Holy Roman Empire has been removed from Italy and Venice is destroyed. Milan controls all of Italy except Rome and Florence. They control much of the former Byzantine Empire west of Constantinople.
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Chpt. 1: A Chain of Events
The war started abruptly, without good cause or reason. It was just a battle for power, a war of supremacy between the two great powers of Scotland and Milan. The Milanese had a strong control over the Mediterranean region, while the Scottish forces controlled much of Northern Europe. The two nations had never been friends, though never had the bravery to challenge the other, in fear of losing papal favor.
The Scottish troops were never strongly religious people; however, they were rich enough to constantly give the pope money, hence giving them the power to conquest nearby nations. Money was not their only savior against Papal discontent. Years before, during alliance agreements with the falling Holy Roman Empire, Scotland was able to take the city of Florence. At this time, the city of Florence was a prime fortified power within the doorway of northern Italy. On the other hand, the Milanese had strong control over the pope due to their connections to him. As a native member of Milan, the pope Flavio was easily swayed by his countrymen and hence they went unchecked in their wars.
The war itself started in 1257 AD, a year after the death of the former Scottish ruler, Robert. He was an inactive ruler, a ruler who worked to secure the empire of Scotland during a time of financial destitution. He was loved by neighboring rulers due to his non-expansion attitude. However, he was highly impious, ignoring the Papal request for the military superpower of Scotland to join a crusade on Jerusalem. The pope from Milan subsequently requested the aide of a Milanese assassin.
“I want this done quietly…we can not have any knowledge into this event during my crusade”, stated pope Flavio, who stood at his window in his flowing white robes. His arms were in front of him as he played with his hands in anxiety. Much the opposite, the assassin sat at the table, playing with a pair of dice on a table. He was calm and collected, a man who was sly and dangerous.
“For 500 florins, you have a deal. With the aide of god, I am sure this will be done swiftly and silently…”, the assassin said his words like a snake in the grass, using the word god as if it was a joke. However, without another opportunity, the pope agreed to it and so the fate of Robert was sealed. The assassin went north from the holy city of Rome into the capital city of the Scottish empire, Edinbourgh. He was a cunning man who was a master of his art and within a week he found his opportunity. Robert, though highly unreligious, he did have an immaculately constant schedule that made him vulnerable in the later part of the day. Every night he rode his horse through the country side and through the same area, none the less. The most extreme fault of the Scottish King was that he neglected guard during this time as he was popular enough to guarantee his security during his stays at home. That evening, as he usually did, Robert rode out onto the backwoods trail of his daily routine. As he reached a bridge, the distinct sound of a bow could be heard. An arrow hiss from beneath the cover of the trees and struck his chest. With the whinny of a horse and the thud of his body hitting the wooden bridge, the man who had ruled the kingdom of Scotland for 18 years had met his end at the hands of an unsuspected assassin.
Robert was found two days later upon the bridge as a merchant passed through the back trails for a swifter reach of Inverness. Upon finding the body, he was stricken with surprise and disgust. The body having lain within the weather two days had been ravaged by animals and poor weather. The stench of death was the aroma and the knowledge of foul play the scene, as an arrow protruded from the corpse of the once famed ruler. Thus began the rule of Prince Dauid, a youthful, former crusader to Antioch who was now on his return. He was informed of the death of his father in Vienna, where he set camp and remained in morning for the month of December.
At the first of January he set off for his home in Rouen, where his intention was to investigate the death of his father, but probably more importantly, secure the Scottish borders where rebel forces and Portugal were biting at their heels. In Rouen he held council with his three top advisors. Those three were Aed the Chivalrous, Morgunn of Bute, and David of Bute. The two former were military commanders who had won distinction in the Franco-Scottish war, in which Scotland acquired much of northern France. David of Bute was a merchant genius who had turned the city of York into a primary trading center during the start of the Scottish expansion against England. He was reaching his late 60’s, while Aed and Morgunn were still in their early 30’s. All three however brought the keys needed to the success of this nation and as his father trusted them, so did Dauid.
“My lord, I believe it is time for us to continue the expansions to the south. Both Morgunn and I believe we can overcome the defenses of Zaragoza and march south for Valencia to curb the Portuguese threat”. Thus spoke Aed who received a second from Morgunn as they sat around a table in conference with the new King. David of Bute, however, disagreed.
“My King, it is not wise to provoke the Portuguese now. They have been gathering troops in Valencia. If we threaten them with mass field armies, we may prompt an attack by sea on one of our cities in southern France. Another key threat I see is if we fail to overcome them in Zaragoza, we will have no defensive armies in southern France. As we still know little about who killed your late father, King Robert, we may receive other resistance from unknown foes!”
“Lord David, I understand your argument and I believe that if we rush into war with Portugal, we risk much. Aed, you and Morgunn should travel south and station your field armies in Bordeaux with the commanding officer there. Furthermore, I want you to go south with a small contingent and travel by sea to Florence for reinforcements. With your forces in France we can secure the south. With you gathering reinforcements from Italy, we can travel via water to hit Valencia first when the time is right. You are both popular with the pope also. I want to arrange a meeting with him soon. Offer him 1500 florins for his holiness’s good will. With his approval, we’ll attack Portugal and hopefully avoid the crusade. We have no troops to over to it.”
“Agreed, My Lord. As chief of trade, I will return north if there is no need of me here. I wish you all good luck in your endeavors.” With that, David of Bute left the exchange. Aed and Morgunn, however, stayed still hoping to chance the mind of Dauid.
“My King! We can not delay and allow the Portuguese time to prepare for us. With the conquest of Pamplona early in your fathers reign, we have been disliked by them. If they see weakness in you, they will strike!”
“I agree with Aed, My King. King Fernando is a threat. He is no military genius, but he has the backing of Spain if they start the war again!”
“My mind is made, war is to come, but not now. If they attack us, we have the pope and Sicilian ships…if we strike first we lose all support and risk excommunication.” With that, the new king of Scotland secured his plans and there was no use arguing his decree. As David of Bute went north, the two generals traveled south to Bordeaux and left their veteran troops in the care of Johan, a formerly Spanish captain. Dauid traveled south to Paris and stationed himself there while dealing with the affairs of state in the northern European cities he controlled. With David of Bute in on England’s main islands, he was less burdened however.
On the other side of this great conflict stood Duke Bernardo and his stronger, larger armies of Milan. While the Scottish held Northern Europe, Bernardo held the northern lands of Italy and much of the Mediterranean. Having removed Venice, Sicily, and the Holy Roman Empire from Italy, the Scottish Florence was the only threat remaining. However, under Robert, Milan was checked. Unable to provoke hostility and unwilling to challenge them, the two remained in a shallow peace. Much unlike his former opponent, Bernardo was a man of ambition. He had come to power with the assassination of two Dukes before him, taking control by ‘considerable luck’, as most said. Now, he was in his mid 50’s. He was an unloved ruler, but he brought profit and to many that was all that mattered. The Duke had long wished for the control of Florence and thanked the death of Robert. Knowing Robert’s son due to his passing through as a crusader, he knew Dauid was far easily stressed. However, Dauid also posed as a threat, as a military leader, not a commercial giant like Bernardo. The strength of Bernardo’s Milan stood within Pietro Rossi, a middle aged general who had been the one to thank for removing the Venetian and the taking of Bologna. Upon the production of troops there, the Milanese nobles were growing tense in fear of invasion. While Milan was powerful, many of its field armies were located in Greece. The only superpower of Milan near the Italian continent was in Pietro Rossi’s troops stationed in Innsbruck and hence he was called to Venice with his men by the Duke. They held conference in the city of canals, hoping to figure out a solution.
“Pietro, my military genius, guide me here, my friend. We need to remove the occupation of Scotland in Florence. Italy is ours by right…”, he cut himself off as he ate some fruit. Pietro sat across from him, calm and as a noble should be. He cut a piece of bread with a knife and ate it as he spoke.
“The time is not right to remove Scottish occupation. With Morgunn and Aed in Florence, we sit on the verge of defeat. My current forces are primarily veterans, but if we do by chance lose in Florence, we leave Milan open to for Scotland and their new king. I would recommend his Lordship makes a call to arms and stations a second field army in Genoa, near the border to watch over the Scottish. Give them reason to fear us, but do not strike. While that army is there, I will go to Milan to my men and send for my forces in Bern.”
“I like the plan, Pietro. You are always one to be trusted! I myself will travel to Rome and request papal troops since my men are en route to Jerusalem. With papal approval, we may be able to force Dauid to take his troops from Florence to Marseilles and surrender the city to the pope. At least in papal hands, I feel Italy is ours. If I fail to have the pope take the city, we shall.” So the field was set. The two left for their posts. Pietro traveled north to Milan, sending riders for Bern. From Bern he could expect 500 men. While he had 1200 in Milan, he would outnumber the defenses of Florence if need to conquer would arrive.
In Florence itself, both Aed and Morgunn had gathered 700 troops in total. They had hoped the city would provide more then one thousand, but it failed to produce. With Milanese influence all around, they found recruitment hard.
“The King will not appreciate such small numbers. In Bordeaux we have 1500 men a piece, but here we managed half of that together. Soldiers are hard to come by…”, said Aed as he rode along side Morgunn as they approached the gates of Florence itself, hoping to go out once more for another attempt at recruitment.
“Florentines are too close to Milanese…they seek merchant business, not the art of war. We need Scottish men, not this militia. The king was wrong to send us here. I hear of discontent Milanese everywhere. I fear Florence itself is in danger.”
“You fear too much, Morgunn. Florence is secure for now. Bernardo will not threaten Dauid without the pope behind him. Without god, all enterprises are hopeless.”
“I do hope you are right. Otherwise, we are in for a war we shall not win with these forces alone.”
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Part #1 covers Years: 1252-1256
I await some replies.
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lol
Not a lot of action *yet*, seems Florence is in for it.
