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Thread: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

  1. #41
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

    The Papers of King Alfonso


    Chapter 11 – The Prince continues on the Crusade


    by Norse Thing

    Meanwhile the crusading Prince Rodrigo was with his fleet. They had moved away from being a simple reminder of Spanish presence on the African coast and were now clearly in the central Mediterranean Sea off the coast of a Sicilian colony. Cagliari castle was a wooden structure defending Sardinia and protecting the shipping lanes toward Palermo. Not an impressive stone castle, but a castle in only name.


    No significant defense was detected by the on board posted naval spotters. Perhaps there was a company or more of infantry, but this was clearly not the center of Sicilian Power. That was the great stone castle at Palermo which was south east of Cagliari. Between Cagliari and Palermo was an ocean passage that could lead to Naples and Rome. But even at Palermo, there was only a token defense spotted. Where were the Sicilians? If they had left Naples with a substantial army, it had to be somewhere. That army was a threat even if it is not at a known location. Had the Sicilian army been defeated by the Byzantine Empire? Then why agree to change possession of Naples for a treaty written on paper?


    The Crusading Prince Rodrigo had stopped at the arch of the Italian 'boot' to pick up 3 of the companies of mercenary crossbowmen based in garrison at Naples as well as recruiting another fleet for his growing army. There was no need to continue spending florins to support a garrison of mostly mercenaries. Now the garrison was mostly militia with the 2 remaining mercenary crossbowmen companies remaining to fill in a need if the typical Italian hostilities were to once again rage out of control.


    Prince Rodrigo has made steady progress with the Crusade army aboard the fledgling Spanish navy. He had ordered the admiral to pass close enough to Crete and Rhodes to track the settlements for garrisons. The Crusade fleets passed close to the port for Rum. In the future, such knowledge may be useful. Today, the Byzantine Empire is an ally, but the Byzantine Empire is also trading with Egypt judging by the observed naval trade traffic out of Byzantine controlled Rum. The relationship may grow into an alliance. King Alfonso would not want to ask the Byzantines to choose between Egypt and Spain.


    At the moment, Egypt is at war with the Turks over who shall control Antioch. The Turks are also at war with the Byzantines. Judging by the Prince's observation that Rum is controlled by the Byzantine Empire, the Turks may be losing their kingdom province by province. How the Turks leadership found themselves in a two front war was not known Spain. This was so far away that all of this was more of legend than known. The Prince was now about to intervene in this by answering a call to arms by Pope Gregory. Two powers separated only by the Turkish Kingdom. All the focus is on Antioch.


    If Egypt were gain that control over Antioch, then Spain would need to declare war against Egypt to continue to honor their pledge to the Pope on the Crusade. All would be simpler if Antioch had remained an independent Duchy, but the struggle between the Turks and Egypt is but one of the perils of a kingdom when answering a call for a Crusade.


    The best and hoped for solution is for Prince Rodrigo to arrive with his army while the Turks control Antioch. Then, the enemy of Spain's ally can easily be Spain's enemy.


    The Prince has finally landed the Crusade force at a fishing village near Antioch. Twenty units take a long time to disembark from the fleet. The landing met no opposition. Antioch was still in the hands of the Turks with a field army of 14 units south of Antioch as well as a 9 unit Antioch garrison. All the Turkish units were of unknown strength and even the skills of commanders ate an unknown to the Prince. Neither force nor even the combined force was a worry for Prince Rodrigo and his fresh 20 units full of Crusade zeal. Over confidence? Perhaps.


    Naples has completed the training of anew diplomat. Jacome Sandino is a promising new diplomat for King Alfonso. At only 22 he is still a bit dogmatic compared to Aria Telles. He will be accompanied by a translator who may also hold back some of the dogmatism as he serves the king on the Italian peninsula. His first assignment was to meet with Pope Gregory in Rome. He was successful in extending the ties with Rome. A mutual military access of the lands was secured with a promise a 100 florins in tribute for several years. He also promised that Spain would continue to attack the rebels that Rome as well as all respectable factions are at war with.


    The rebel Diago was now so infamous,that even Jacome Sandino had heard of his exploits in Naples from the militia garrisoned in the town. Diago might have been on Jacome's mind when this promise was made, but the rebel band near Leon was on General Vaasco's mind when he heard of the diplomat's success in Rome. The General also now knew that a large Portuguese army wasraised. Led by Gen. Gomez Ginzo, Portugal had dispatched the rebel captain Diago and his band to their deaths. The General even pursued Diago into Gascony an English controlled territory.


    Now what was the real objective for Gen. Ginzo and his 11 units? This army was too strong and raised too quickly to simply end Captain Diago's rebellion. Probably Captain Diago ambushed the advanced units and then Gen. Ginzo moved in with the bulk of his army to finish the problem. Gen. Vaasco hoped Portugal would target England. The provincial border had already been crossed. His small force of 4 regiments of fresh Jinetes from Toledo castle and 3 companies of spear militia from Cordoba was good against a small band of rebels, but 11 units of unknown qualities raised at the Pamplona stone castle would be a problem if they moved against King Alfonso at Zaragoza. The Kings safety was clearly on the general's mind, but pursuit of the rebels threatening Leon had to be Gen. Vaasco's first priority.


    Jacome proceeded further north after his success in Rome. In the woodlands of Florence he met two bands of Sicilians. Both were beaten up and seemed to be returning to Sicily. As a warning he sent back word to Naples to be on alert. The Kingdom of Sicily was allied with Venice. Like Venice King Alfonso had trading rights but no other agreements with a Kingdom that was a real competitor in the Western Mediterranean. Like Arias Telles, Jacome saw no value in entangling alliances within Italy that would serve the interests of King Alfonso. However, upon meeting up with Wolfgang von Darmstadt he reconsidered. France and England had recently ended their hostilities. France was the greater threat. Both as well as Venice were allied with the Germans. Jacome offered an alliance to a French ally. It was considered a generous offer. The German diplomat happily accepted.


    Prince Rodrigo sent the fledgling fleet back toward Spain. Perhaps his father, King Alfonso, would have better use of the fleet now that the Crusading army had landed. The Prince feared that war would soon break out with the Moors. Such a modest fleet could have better uses such as keeping the supply lines open against Moors naval blockades. The link with Naples was important for his army. Naples was not just about trade. It was a safe harbor many mile away, but much closer than Cordoba if even that harbor was in service.


    Once the Crusade army was organized,the order was given to march toward the field army of the Turks. The Turkish general withdrew beyond Antioch to the safety of the Cicilian Mountains that separated Armenia from Antioch. No matter,the Prince was now free to engage the Antioch garrison. Perhaps this was only meant to force the Turks to commit their field army in the defense of Antioch. While setting the army into the siege, the Prince had new indications of other smaller Turkish formations at the wooden castle at Aleppo as well as in the field within the Antioch region. If these formations were to converge....


    The Prince ordered the construction ofsiege rams for the gates and ladders to overcome the wall defenses. The Prince proclaimed for all to hear including the inhabitants of Antioch, “It is now 1108 in the year after our lord. Let Pope Gregory's call to Crusade now be answered by Spain. The clash of steel shall now begin!”


    If the siege was a ploy to commit the Turks to a field battle it was not apparent to the garrison commander in Antioch. The Turks had defended well against the assaulting Egyptians. A couple of companies of local militia had been raised in haste, but the stone walls were in need of repair. Most of the battered defenders were themselves in need of refit at a Turkish castle. Four cavalry regiments and a mix of seven infantry companies were now no match for the Crusading force at the doors of Antioch. Would the Turks send in men to assist in Antioch's relief or would they watch another region of the Turkish Empire fall to foreign invading enemies?


    Next! The Prince's Crusading army assaults Antioch!

  2. #42
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

    The previous chapter has been revised as opposed to adding another short chapter.

  3. #43
    Cookiegod's Avatar CIVUS DIVUS EX CLIBANO
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    Default Re: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

    Hey Norse,
    I read it and I like your laconic style.
    If you'd like some minor criticism I'd give you this:

    1: It's a bit weird to read about regiments etc. in a medieval context. I get what you mean, and I understand why. I think every TW-AAR player knows that problem if he wants to describe army compositions. It's also not significant in any way, so you shouldn't change it, just know that the kind of war you describe is more akin to the Napoleonic style of warfare. Which btw. gives you the perfect alibi, since the guy translating/rewriting it for the emperor might have wanted to change the language accordingly. Still wanted to mention it in case you weren't aware, but don't think you should change it.

    2: Screens/pictures would be nice. You do well enough describing the scene that again, you can do without, but I for one haven't played the mod and was wondering how it looked. In some cases ("The Turkish general withdrew beyond Antioch to the safety of the Cicilian Mountains that separated Armenia from Antioch") it had me kinda confused (there are no mountains between Antioch and Armenia minor/Cilicia, the latter being separated from Anatolia proper further northwest by the Taurus mountains. So the Turks retreated northwest far behind Adana? Or are you talking about Armenia proper to the northeast? I didn't play the mod, so I didn't grasp what was going on there).

    3: I was a bit confused about the premise being Napoleon wanting to learn how to conquer Spain, and Spain now already about to conquer Antioch?
    The premise is btw. a great one. I remember I heard that Napoleon went to visit the Bayeux tapestry when contemplating on how to conquer Britain.

    EDIT: Forgot to mention: Should you have technical issues with screens or want me to make you a map based on the ingame you can PM me. I'll gladly help you out.

    Btw: I couldn't rep your parts because of rep spread.
    Last edited by Cookiegod; April 30, 2019 at 02:40 AM.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cookiegod View Post
    From Socrates over Jesus to me it has always been the lot of any true visionary to be rejected by the reactionary bourgeoisie
    Qualis noncives pereo! #justiceforcookie #egalitéfraternitécookié #CLM

  4. #44
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

    I think this is heading to blog country for a response....

    https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...1#post15780218

  5. #45
    Turkafinwë's Avatar The Sick Baby Jester
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    Default Re: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

    Intruiging developments allround! Alfonso further strengthening his grip on Iberia, trying to flee the Moorish yoke, while expanding his influence into the Eastern Mediterranean with Naples and soon, I presume, the great harbour of Antioch. Interesting to see a game where the Turks (wow this is confusing, it's like I'm talking about a people completely consisting of me. Could you imagine it, the absolute horror ) aren't doing great. Usually they stomp everyone, all the time, at least that is my experience. Perhaps it is different in this mod. War between England and Portugal would be a very intersting thing to behold but it will also increase Portugal's influence in the region.

    One segment I particularly liked and wholeheartedly agreed with was this:
    Quote Originally Posted by NorseThing View Post
    A man is only as good as his word. Florins cannot easily undo a reputation that actions establish. A single act can undo a reputation that a lifetime of effort had created.
    Interested to see how things will develop! Well done NorseThing!
    Last edited by Turkafinwë; May 03, 2019 at 08:58 AM.

  6. #46
    Cookiegod's Avatar CIVUS DIVUS EX CLIBANO
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    Default Re: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

    Quote Originally Posted by NorseThing View Post
    I think this is heading to blog country for a response....

    https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...1#post15780218
    I'm glad you liked it and I hope I didn't do damage with the "regiment" thing. Like I said: The regiments thing makes sense given that your premise is Napoleon reading what I presume to be a somewhat modern translation/summary of those. Not only does it give you an alibi, it'd be weird if it was completely 11th century style historic.
    (Btw: I think the Russian campaign was a far worse error, and the Peninsular campaign could've been manageable, if it hadn't been for the other).

    I didn't get from your response where the Turks were retreating to. Like I said, there are two Armenias - one being Cilicia, and one to the far away Northeast in the Caucasus.
    The Cilician mountains don't separate Antioch from either of those.

    Ships: Yeah, that's a known problem. It gets weirder still if you were to consider ship types. Their capacities varied significantly. My interpretation is that those numbers you see to them is the number of ships, not men. Which pretty much solves the problem, even though many naval battles were carried out by very few ships (but there were also a couple of huge ones).

    Quote Originally Posted by Cookiegod View Post
    From Socrates over Jesus to me it has always been the lot of any true visionary to be rejected by the reactionary bourgeoisie
    Qualis noncives pereo! #justiceforcookie #egalitéfraternitécookié #CLM

  7. #47
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: [LTC] The Papers of King Alfonso

    It sounds like Prince Rodrigo's gamble has paid off, and that Spain will soon have a city which was historically take by crusaders. You've got me wondering whether an army will march to support the garrison and whether, if Spain takes the city, it can be held.

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