Mixed bag for the Emperor
@Crackers. He managed to pass an Imperial reform which greatly enhances his diplomatic prowess, but failed to reign in the Italian states in time. They have escaped the Imperial clutches for eternity.
After
@WI_Red tempted fate yesterday, you would have thought people would have learnt to not test the Gods.
It's a clash of titans.
@altodevil caught
@P-Nut with his pants down and declared war while the Ottoman armies were prepared at the border and 3/4 of the Mamluk armies were down in Arabia. The Ottoman's launched a quick naval invasion of Crete, where the Mamluk navy lay in harbour. By threatening to capture Crete, it forced the Mamluk navy to sea where the much larger Ottoman navy lay in wait. The Ottomans sunk a couple of ships before the Mamluk galleys fled to Alexandria, refusing to give battle after. The Ottomans controlled the seas until the end of the war.
On land, the Ottomans were able to win battles convincingly. By exploiting the unpreparedness of the Mamluks, Halab quickly fell and the Turks exploited a network of forts, enabling them to defeat the Mamluk armies piecemeal. While the Ottoman offensive was co-ordinated, the Mamluk armies worked independently of one another and were smashed in the larger battles.
There were a few notable victories for the Mamluks and the casualties at the end of the war were fairly even, but the damage had already been done at the beginning.
P-Nut surrendered. I think the terms were very generous on the Mamluks, all considered.
However...
... Christendom has finally reacted. Led by the Emperor
@Crackers, he has with
@hobbers,
@Organic Potatoes,
@Dan, the Pope and several minor states formed a coalition vowing to bring altodevil to heel. But dare they strike?
In other news:
- The Cat annexed Tclemcen, Kabylia and Algiers. He now borders Salt Bailly.
- Kazan declared war on MadDogg, in revenge for MadDogg’s earlier aggression against them. MadDogg lost a further 50% of hist territory. altodevil didn’t look favourably upon Dr Dwayne or Kazan bullying MadDogg. The Ottomans have guaranteed The Great Horde’s independence, giving them a lifeline
- Dr. Dwayne continued following the sound Dr. Dwayne strategy of waiting until others fight, before declaring on them. He attacked and beat Kazan.
- Crackers annexed Baden and Bregenz
- RedSky allied Crackers to stave off the PSV threat.
