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Back home, a new aresenal of Catapults and Knights are built, and a second fleet of Caravels now carries them to Greece. Our target: Athens. We will have that city at any cost. Not only is Athens the capitol of Greece, but it will create a supporting landing on the northern shores of Greece for further invasions should the war continue on. The Spartan knights now ride over the hills to Athens, where they will pillage the land around the city and stop any Greek armies from re-enforcing the city. By the time my army from Egypt landed on Greek soil near Athens, the Spartans were already tired and battered, but thier courage shined brightly under the hot summer sun, and lifted the spirits of those men arriving from Egypt to a foreign land, far...far away from their loved ones.  My landing came late in the year 248BC, and my soldeirs waited there for two full years on the coast and on the hills before the official attack was launched. In the meantime, Athens grew to have Greece more and more: they had no crops to harvest for two years, and fishing was eliminated due to my Fire Triremes. They had no trade to the outside world, and the lack of resources made hiring new armies next to impossible. Many a Greek surely wanted to give up, but in 230BC, my army marched to the city walls and began bombardment. The battle was equal from the start, and mid-way during the battle, our forces were relatively equally matched. The battle lasted for days on end, but we pressed on, never giving up hope.  In the end, the city was won by our mighty armies, and the Greek civilization fell into ruins. We now had two major ports on the North shore, and were not about to give them up. City walls were speedily built, and farms remade. Athens became much like Sparta, and the two cities simultaniously celebrated my personal coming to Greece in 200BC. My armies, however, never rested a moment. They counted thier loses and pressed on to Olympia; the final major port on the Northern Mediterranean and the so-called Aegean sea of which Greece first held. New armies were being constantly created, but a suprise attack took place in 190BC...A massive Greek army from the North marched on Sparta and the city was re-captured! I could not believe it. My landing there and subsequent travel to Athens seemed peaceful at worst, and the sudden attack turned my eyes. Can you just imagine me in Athens, drinking Greek wines and chatting with scholars and beautiful women alike, when a bloody soldier enters my Palace doors and announces this to me! I had two armies north of Sparta that were supposed to ward off an invasion, but the enemy's voyage down the river came when my armies were unaware. Sparta had some regiments stationed there, but bad luck and an enemy force of nothing but cavalry archers managed to sweep into the city and capture it. My closest army marced to the city, and because the Greeks had no time to patch thier wounds, my attack was successful...but just. Of any army consisting of 6 regiments attacking an enemy force of 5, my chances seemed good. In the end, though, my army was reduced to two small regiments that were beaten beyond recognition of an actual army. It was a sad day that the city fell, but its recaputre in 170BC brang welcome news. That very same year, my troops that landed near Olympia now readied thier arms and armour, and prepared for the offensive.  But would I be as successful as in Athens or Sparta? I surely did not want the city to return to enemy hands, as did Sparta, but I knew that my troops that far to the North East would be better off defending in the South West of Greecian coast. I had been saving up cash for some time now, and I spent nearly 90% of my wealth in defeating and defending Greece. I needed a victory at Olympia, and for my determination, I was granted that victory. Olympia was not a decisive victory at all. Of the six detachments present, only one survived the battle, and just. I was personally present at the engagement, and held my hand high incase I needed to drop it and have my musicians sound the retreat. It, however, was not needed. Olympia was a disaster of a battle, and my personal guard as well as myself had to charge in in the end to save the day. The morning was cold and my men were not used to the northern Greek climate at winter.  It, however, was a victory none the less...but at what cost. My treasury was now depleeted to such an extent that I could no longer afford new defensive troops in Athens or Sparta, and Olympia was very frail as well. Luckily for me, I planned ahead, and had a secret weapon brewing back home... For, with the Carrack came not only new military opportunities, but also new a new view on trade and economy. When trade between Greece and Egypt began, I had numerous goods that needed to bridge the Mediterranean. I needed more than just Carracks, I needed a system that would push the ships to new limits. I wanted to explore all of the Mediterranean, and reap the rewards of trade. I needed something to make all of this happen...and my dream became a reality... ...and so the East India company was born, named so in commemoration of the fist tradesmen to travel East form Egypt to Assyria.  My ships could now move much faster, and with new fleets being created in Alexandria, I could travel round Greece and attack Northern Greece from the West. My longships could now move much faster, and in 100BC, I met two civilizations; the Romans and the Turks. The Turks were hostile to me at first, and because they were so far from Egypt, I had no intention of having commerce with them. The Romans welcomed peace with me, and we exchanged maps and signed a treaty that would insure peace between our two great nations for centuries to come. Thier maps revealed to me thier two greatest nemesese; the Franks and the Germanic barbarian tribes to the far north. The Romans speak of a burly peoples consumed by tribal wars and savage lifestyles. Although they have not conquered any cities from one another, the Romans ensure me that these two tribes have no cities worth capturing. I for one will not judge before I have diplomatically met with them personally...besides, these tribes could come in handy if I sould find a need to one day be at war with the Romans...but that will not happen any time soon. |
