Chapter 34: Expansion
23 July 1259
Dear Diary,
The Khergit had declared war on me. At first I ignored them, rather going out shopping and preparing for a feast than facing them, but when both the Nord and the Sarranid decided to attack the Khergit too, I knew I should do something before all had been divided yet. So nine days ago I set out from Khudan and rode together with lord Plais and Montewar to Ymura castle, a fortification nearby. No lord was currently residing there: only the 164 soldiers guarding the place were present. No shocking number, so I prepared the ladders for an attack after a four hour siege.
The siege was the largest surprise I had so far in the lands of Calradia. The ladders were laid on their place, but before my men could storm the place, I ordered them to hold their places. There was movement at the walls. Indeed, it didn't take long before the defenders started to swarm the ladders, ran down them and ran towards my carefull formations. Most of them fell by the hand of my sharpshooters before they even came close to the lines. It was the weirdest attack on a castle I had ever done: my long line of archers just had to wait for the defenders to come storming unorganised to their death. After the conquest I took in lord Rafarch and gave him this castle, while keeping the village of Karindi for myself.
'Conquest of Yruma castle' is the most surprising show DPC has shown so far: the defenders go out of the castle using the ladders to attack the attackers.
After my success at Yruma castle, I took both Plais and Montewar and rode to the nearby Slezkh castle. This time Tulug noyan would lead the defence, but his men and the defenders together were still only 151 men. I could beat that easily, so I entered a siege once again. This time it went a lot harder than before, although the defenders also walked down the ladders. Tulug organised his men a lot better: the archers did go down, but would stand in formation and shoot at mine instead of just running aimlessly towards my lines. I took the castle, but lost eleven men. Then I gave it to lord Karaban, who I accepted into my realm, and kept the village of Slezkh for myself.
While I was busy conquering two castles, lord Belir decided he didn't want to serve me and walked away to the Sarranids. How rude. He also took both Uhhun and Uhhun castle with him, which was unacceptable. But there was nothing I could do about it: I was already fighting the Khergit, and the Sarranid, who were pretty welcoming towards me, were in this case my allies. On the positive side: the Uhhun enclave wouldn't be isolated anymore.
Slezkh castle was also easy to take, although the losses were heavier than at Yruma castle.
Next on the list was Nelag castle. While I rode towards there, the Rhodoks declared war on the Nord. It wouldn't surprise me if the Nord would soon back out of the war, making it a perfect excuse to invade them. But that would have to wait: first I needed to handle the Khergit. Together with my loyal team of the vengeful Plais and loving Montewar I climbed the mountains, till I came to Nelag castle. The siege went pretty the same as with the other two castles: the defenders came swarming from the ladders, giving my archers a perfect opportunity to shoot them on the ground while my infantry engaged them. The remaining few in the castle were no problem after the main army had been destroyed before the walls. I had to give the castle to lord Grainwad, who had mustered the support of already seven lords, but I kept the village of Hanun for myself.
Then I went for the big price itself: the city of Curaw. I wasn't able to gather a large army: only lord Montewar followed me. Together we had barely 200 men, which seemed hardly enough in my eyes. But still I proceeded. When we were at the gates of Curaw, I noticed Tredian noyan, a Khergit noble, lurking around. Even though he only had 64 men, it would be deadly for my force if he attacked me in the back. So I first rode to him, to have a little chat with him. After asking about his feelings of Sanjar khan, I offered him a position at my court, which he accepted. The main thread thus decided to join me and become a lord of Holland, which freed my hands to build the ladders and start the attack on the walls. They had 100 men more, and were defending, and thus in a better position. But still I won: I first held everyone in position before the walls, and let the archers shoot. The defenders were packed together, and were easy targets. After a short while I ordered both my infantry and cavalry to move up the ladder, while I shot, together with the sharpshooters, many Khergit down. This appeared to work really well. 21 of my men and 23 of Montewar's troops fell dead, while 291 Khergit got their skulls cracked in the combat. It surprised me that, despite the weaker position, I still managed to take the city. I even hadn't had to intrude the palace to root out last defenders: all seemed to have joined the combat.
The battle for Curaw was a more exciting one than the previous three, resulting in more losses on my side.
The conquest of Curaw extended my holdings not only by a city, but also two villages. I had promised lord Tredian a fief, and I kept my promise: the village of Rebache was his. I attracted also a new lord from my great hall, Regas, whom I gave the city of Curaw. Finally I kept the village of Bazeck for myself. My personal lands were now more and more consisting of villages surrounding the city of Khudan: only a few more of them and I would have a nice personal area which hopefully would be profitable. But now I've outstretched this war far enough: my treasury is almost empty, and the men in reserve are almost depleted. For the sake of consolidation I need a peace now, and I need it sooner than later.
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Gameplay notes
Floris' stats still haven't changed, so let me use this opportunity to show you some reports:
The war has been disastrous for the Khergit. Not only did they loose territory to Holland, but also to the Nord and Sarranid. They are almost back to the point they were a year ago, locked between the mountains. Within the white border I marked my personal territory along with the city of Khudan and several villages.