Proposal: Holy Jihad against the Ghorid infidels

[askthepizzaguy]

Members, allies, friends...

We are throwing everything we have into the Jerusalem offensive, and will be a battered state thereafter.

I think now is the time to discuss my proposal for helping the East put down the Ghorid offensive permanently.

Basically, the Seljuks, Ghaznavids, Omans if willing, will all assemble their mighty armies slightly out of range of the Ghorids at maximum strength... then I have a plan to include the Turks in your endeavors.

Basically, I need one castle, or two... whatever you can spare, and also the financial backing of the coalition itself. Whatever any members can spare.

First of all, committing to the destruction of Jerusalem will likely wipe out my family in the west, and I will need to donate those lands to Georgia/Armenia. But we will emerge as victors against Jerusalem and the Georgians/Armenians can have the lands and support of Kaikosru against any further aggressors.

So we need a new homeland, temporarily. I don't wish to impose, but I have offered two other nations my own territories, so I am asking for volunteers.

If you have castles you can LEND me, I will use them to raise an army in the east against the Ghorids, and when the time comes, I will transfer my capital there to spawn a new family member.

Then, with coalition support, and the released burden of my 4 stacks of doom in the west being annihilated, I will raise an army of Turkish forces against the Ghorids, and help in the assault on the Ghorid Sultanate, wiping that grin off of his face forever.

If everyone who has the means can contribute 500/turn or more, in a few short turns I should be able to mass my forces and assist.

I don't intend to stay in the east. This mission is a kamikaze mission for the good of the Coalition. When the Ghorids are slain, please assist me in moving back to Turkish territory. I am sure the Georgians and the Armenians will be willing to grant me my lands back for all I've done for the Coalition.

I greatly wish this plan to go into effect and that it remain a secret. But if it is too much of an imposition...

Specifically what I require:

Temporary transfer of castles which don't have any value at all, but are close to one another. (Insta-garrison from the transfer of lands itself will be a good start)

Permission to borrow one castle which has actual recruitment facilities such as stables or better.

contributions, however small, however generous, to the Turkish cause to raise a holy army of Jihad against the traitorous infidel Ghorids.

With several member states offering roughly 500 or more florins per turn and worthless castle territories, I can raise a very effective fighting force. You stand to lose only minor income temporarily, and you stand to gain huge forces.

IC, we can explain that a Turkish family member has travelled far to the east and secured the loyalty of the local allies, and has hired mercenaries and has been loaned castles for the raising of an army.

Please make your thoughts known if you feel this is a viable plan. I greatly wish to personally cut the throat of the Ghorid scum.


The Turks will die, both in battle against the armies of Baldwin and the Ghorids. But we will die with honour and in the name of the Holy Coalition. The Supreme Commander of the Coalition feels that, if re-elected, and his plan goes into effect with the approval of the majority of the member states, he will be most willing to give his own life for the cause of destroying or pacifying all three declared enemies of the Coalition.

With such a legacy, I can then retire to civilian life a happy man, and enjoy my reward in the glorious afterlife.

Allahu Ackbar!

[askthepizzaguy]

Also, intelligence reports and/or screenshots of the eastern front would be MUCH appreciated. I can't be much of a commander without intelligence reports.

You're all free to plan and engage in strategery on your own, as that's most effective. Decentralized command, but centralized intelligence, is necessary.

[ramsesiicp]

I think the AOR system will prevent castles in the east from doing you any good. I don't even know if you'd get any insta-garrison. Since EF backed out of the MP battle I'll be able to tie him up for awhile, should be plenty of time for forces out of Ghazni/Seljuk lands to find their way into Ghorid territory, and if the Omanis have the forces and are willing to cross the sea I'm quite sure they'll find the Sind lands poorly held.

[askthepizzaguy]

Actually, I've recently done a blitz campaign where I conquered my way from Turkey all the way to the Ghorid sultanate and the Ghaznavids without stopping, abandoning and razing my former territories. Not only are there mercenaries, but any Muslim held castles with stables or barracks WILL allow recruitment.

I've already witnessed it first hand. Seljuk or Ghaznavid, or former Khwarezmid territory WILL allow me to recruit, and yes, transferring any castle to a friend's hands will allow an insta-garrison.

[ramsesiicp]

But not my stuff? I'd be fine to give you my capital, my only castle, which is in mid-build of a second tier stables. All I can train there is garbage units anyway.

[askthepizzaguy]

I'd be honoured by this great offer, however that's one I probably cannot justify IC. I doubt a Turkish emissary ends up in India anytime soon, especially with the war going on.

How about handing some of your territories to the Omans or the Ghaznis? Also, if I am not mistaken, your capital is about to get pwned by the Ghorids anyway? I'd not even have time to assemble a force.

Plus that would be cheap. I mean, assembling in the east and taking on the Ghorid slime myself is a bit of a stretch, but considering the fanaticism of my Sultan, DO NOT put it past him. However, suddenly popping up in the middle of a war zone isn't possible, in my view. More likely is the Tibetan-style government of India in exile agreement, and the Holy Jihad against the infidel Ghorids. I don't want to deny EF his rightful prize of capturing the whole of India for his bold, if ill-fated maneuvers.

Let the monster have his bone to chew on... it will distract him from his own demise, as I approach from the west, with Seljuk and Ghaznavid forces... perhaps, via ship, the Omans will be able to reclaim your territory in the middle of the war!

Yes... That's precisely what I need the Omans to do. Deguerra, you have your first official orders from Commander Kaikosru.

Welcome to the plans of the Coalition!

[askthepizzaguy]

looking at the map of the lands in the east....


Tus, Herat, Birjand, Zaranj, Bost, Saravan, Barn, Balykh and Merv all seem to be candidates for what I propose, geography-wise.

However it is not for me to dictate which territories, if any, the Seljuks and the Ghaznis are willing to lend. I ask that you discuss amongst yourselves what might be worthy of being granted temporarily to the Turks.

Also, a request of 500 florins/turn from all Member States to assist the Commander in raising this Holy Army, if you can afford it. To each individual nation, this burden will be small, but our COMBINED MIGHT will make these small but generous contributions matter decisively to our cause.

Also, if you are willing to offer even more generous amounts of lands or money, we will be most grateful, and our plans will be more successful.

If you would like, once this Holy Army is raised, the lands can be returned to you. Alternatively, if you are willing, I could trade territories as I move east, giving me a new capital each time to spawn new generals and giving me safe haven as I move to destroy them. I do not obviously request core provinces.

I wish to point out that I have been generous with granting my own lands to my allies, and that I have always kept my word to my allies, if my history of honourable service to the Coalition will sway your opinions.

This is the suggested plan of action from Sultan Kaikosru.

Armenians: To attack Jerusalem itself, recover from debt, and expand into the Holy Land, and finally rebuild greater Armenia, while governing the Turkish people as we wage Jihad in the east.

Georgians: To assist the Coalition in the west, expand into the Kypchak lands.

Turks: To smite Baldwin and rebuild Armenia, while waging Jihad against the Ghorids, giving all his lands, men, and treasury to the cause of the Coalition.

Seljuks: To assist in the destruction of Baldwin, the Shah, and the Ghorids, and become the mightiest single faction in the game

Ghaznavids: To assist in the destruction of the Shah, to expand into the Ghorid lands and help lead the fight in the east, to help smash the former Malikate of Sindh (ghorid-held?) and help defend the Omans if the Ghorids attack them.

Rajputs: To bravely defend their homeland, respawn in the west, and provide their royal treasury to the Coalition cause

Omans: To continue to defeat the rebels, and to assist in taking Sindh and launching an amphibious assault on India if it is held by the Ghorids.

Caliphate: To help defeat Baldwin and to expand from one sea to the other, though not a Member State I am discussing bilateral alliance with him until this crisis is resolved.

Roman Empire: To assist in defeating Baldwin, provide material assistance to the Coalition, and to govern the western Turkish states in exchange for lands in the Levant and possible claims to the former province of Aegyptus if the Ayyubids join on Baldwin's side, as well as helping to claim the Kypchak lands in the name of the Turks.


We may end up resettling in Kypchak lands and perhaps northern Khwarezmid lands if the Seljuks allow it, and granting Anatolia to Georgia, Armenia, and the Romans, with our claiming only our Main Recruitment Center in Turkey as a permanent Turkish stronghold.

[zim]

I should be able to manage a tribute as the war with the Shah dies down, even after I turn my attention east to the Ghorids.

Territory will be harder. I've captured only one castle near my core area and it didn't come with any buildings. I'll see what I get as I expand against the Shah and southern rebel lands.

[ramsesiicp]

Heh, if he lays siege to my capital, even with all three stacks in the area, I will tear him apart in a sally. That would be absolutely ideal.

No, I think he's going to try picking off the outside stuff and bringing in more spies. We'll see. Last turn the building for spies finally finished, so I've started training some defensively. My only problem is that I can't get more elephants and everything else I can train is useless.

[barcamartin]

Birjand is totally worthless. Almost no buildings, and very poor. Merv is the opposite, and to valuable for me to "lend". Tus might be an option though, or the castle south-west of Birjand (is it Herat?). We'll see.

The tribute shouldn't be a problem, as long as all continues to go according to plan in Khwarezm.

If you were to re-settle in the north, you would have to do it north of Merv and west of Urgench. That leaves Khiva and the castle Astrakhan, I believe. It also removes all oppurtunities to keep the Shah alive. Zim will expand to Urgench (I think) and I will keep everything south of it. If you take the settlements I mentioned, there will be no room for the Shah.

[askthepizzaguy]

Keep in mind, even worthless settlements you spare will be ideal, even if just for the insta-garrison and small taxes, guys.

So if you're hesitant to part with anything else, by all means grant me something worthless! so long as I can spawn a general over there, I have ways of raising an army.

The tribute, the castles, and the general are all I need. But for an impressive force, I'd like stables somewhere, and the more stuff you can lend the merrier.

The more you lend, the more "interest" you will gain!

[askthepizzaguy]

Also I am not planning on permanently resettling... this is more for the Ghorid war itself, and nothing else.

[askthepizzaguy]

One of the reasons I was inspired to do this was during the Armenian-Jerusalem war, Armenia was able to raise forces and fight back viciously against the attackers with very little support from me. Just a few worthless, non-recruit-capable provinces here and there, the income gains from holding them, the space to retreat from Jerusalem, and other forms of assistance... with very little effort, Armenia was able to hold on.

I only gave him provinces which were in all seriousness worthless to me. I had a province earning 180 florins per turn, and couldn't recruit anything. it was a glorified fort, too far away from my lands to be of much use. Hand it to Armenia, and already he's reaping the rewards of more income, a garrison, a province to retreat into and recruit mercenaries... more provinces equals larger chance of spawning generals, too!

Something similar could happen on the outskirts of Ghaznavid/Seljuk territory. What I really need is income and a castle that can recruit, but even worthless no-income provinces can help me. Whatever you can spare, no matter how little it is or how much, will allow me to raise an impressive fighting force to back yours.

You guys have the spies, so I'd need intelligence reports before I make any movements. I could lure the Ghorids into range of your forces with my worthless stack-o-merc-Turks, give them a victory, and then surprise! AMBUSH! From the trees, from the hills, Seljuk and Ghazni forces decimate the leading Ghorid stack!

Bwahahahaha! It makes me giggle to think of it.

[tristan]

I cannot help in this daring plan of yours, having already much on my plate with the KoJ...

But I can confirm that the gift of two castles should provide for at least a half stack (10 units) of insta-garrison...

The main difficulty in that plan would be getting a general as it is tied to the number of provinces held... and it doesn't always appear in the capital (it depends on who makes the adoption...)

One sure way to gain a General would be the MoH solution : simply locate a small stack of rebels or Ghorids for that matter, engage them and your victory should give you a MoH general...

Wishing you godspeed on your eastern endeavours...