The death blow
Yay. We are innovative.
Another country decided to innovate as well:
Well, that is interesting.
Emperor Leon VI Thanas decided to put the Russians out of their misery.
This of course led to war with Saxony, who were still allied to them.
We took Stettin, Hannover and the city of all cities, the magnificent Bremen.
Vladimir was annexed and the Emperor took the title "King of all Rus".
I am on to you game. Seriously, this shit is getting out of hands.
Thankfully, the younger brother of Leon, Bardas, is just as capable, so we will only have to wait 3 years now.
Meanwhile, the conversion of the Chinese into productive Orthodox Roman citizens is proceeding very well.
...what delicacy might that be? I am guessing asian cuisine.
Very cool.
After 2 more years of waiting, Bardas finally acceded to the throne. Hail Bardas.
It was time to end Japan.
As usual, the Japanese army surrendered without much of a fight.
We annexed Japan....
and after a war of three months, Haixi.
This meant that the war against the Mongols, which had started about 500 years ago, was finally over as all Mongol and Manchu territories were now under Roman rule. It was now time to restore the borders of the Empire in the west.
As usual, Saxony was dragged into the fight, but due to suffering bankruptcy, it had almost no forces to speak of.
Which led to a quick victory.
Lothian was fully annexed.
We became more pragmatic in dealing with people.
Speaking of people, let us take a look at the Empire after the recent wars:
There are only three nations remaining in Europe.
The unholy trinity has taken over Mings eastern provinces after winning the war, Bengal now controls all of Burma and a good piece of Yunnan.
Malacca is also expanding heavily in Indonesia, taking over Taiwan, the Philippines and half of Australia...
...as well as expanding into Africa, taking over southeast Madagascar. Yes, those will be worthy foes.
South America is largely unchanged.
As is North America.
However, Ming was large and juicy.
A quick look at the balance of forces:
Yeah, I'd say we are
slightly favoured. What is impressive, however, is that Ming can still field a 120k army, despite losing all major wars.
Their allies to the south however sued for peace quickly.
Roman Indochina is looking very well after the recent gains, doesn't it?
In China proper, our forces made a quick attack on the enemy capital
The Chinese Navy valiantly fought against our East Asia Fleet:
Yet the firepower of our ships of the line proved too much as we did not lose a single ship.
From:
"War diary of the Legio V Alaudae", Roma 2014:
"On April 2nd. the legion was tasked to siege and take Nanchang. We arrived on April 16 and had surrounded the city by April 20th. On May 5th, scouts reported a massive enemy force approaching from the South. Reports were sent to the other legions in the area and the Legion readied itself for battle. On May 7th, the orders came from the Megas Strategikos Caligula Germanos to hold until relieved."
"The Enemy soon proved to be several times of our number, as it was all of the remaining Ming Army, led by the Emperor himself."
"Despite a valiant and disciplined effort by our troops, the cohorts were soon overwhelmed by the greater Enemy numbers. The legate gave orders for the staff to prepare for combat and the eagle was brought forward into the middle of the square, which at that point largely consisted of the artillery gunners, who had been handed muskets. The legion was ordered to stand to and die."
"When the enemy had reached the last square, trumpets from the North announced the arrival of the IX Hispania, led by Megas Strategikos Germanos himself."
"Although they too were outnumbered, they attacked the enemy with a vigor unmatched. The reason for that vigor soon became clear, for the V Macedonia, the most ancient and decorated of all legions, soon arrived on the battlefield as well."
"The enemy was thrown into chaos and disorder by a determined cavalry assault."
"The enemy army was forced to flee all the way to Canton, where the remains of the army were caught and annihilated by the V Macedonia and IX Hispania. There were no survivors, the Chinese Emperor being among the dead."
With the Chinese ruling class being thrown into chaos and confusion, Emperor Bardas demanded half of the Chinese territory - and received it." [/i]
Now there was nothing for us but to wait and absorb the new territories. During those four years we increased our ideas
and technology
"Yeah, a good public flogging never hurt a sailor. What do you mean, he's dead?"
The ring bayonet. This made all pikes obsolete.
A nationwide tax system was formed, greatly limiting the load on our administration.
The tax assessor, which would later evolve into the finance ministry, was built in Rome.
Meanwhile, the religious factions hated our new, innovative thinking.
Rome is no theocracy and never will be one.
I think the point was made.
More taxes for the colonies.
No, I will not attack India. Yes, I set the policy, not you greedy merchants.
Dynamic court....meh. Our previous courts were dynamic enough, what with La Malinche becoming chief advisor, an afghan poet becoming chief philosopher and an Italian women becoming chief scholar.
In Roman indochina, a nation was present that prevented us from reaching the unholy trinity of Jainpur, Bengal and Malacca over land.
(they are the grey on the map, sorry if it is hard to see)
This was rectified.
The date was:
Everything was ready for a showdown with the Unholy Trinity.
(and trust me, it will be a massive one. Next update though.)