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The Reconquest of the Balkans; Byzantium on the march
Topic Started: Apr 30 2014, 01:39 AM (1,061 Views)
Kasnyia
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Chairman of the Bank
"We have offered recognition for any lands you claim in Romania, a far larger territory. In addition to assisting you in Hungary."
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Whal
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"Life is too short to be wasted on bad scotch"
 *  *  *  *  *  *
And it is not enough! Prince Albert screamed from the safety of his mind.

Duke Albert had known Karl von Hapsburg II all his life and was fully aware that his raw ambitions were always halted by political isolation. Now that the Archduke had reclaimed the throne, his dreams of rebuilding the Austrian Empire would not be halted in any way - Serbia would eventually be his. Still, if the Archduke was anything, he was a patient and rational leader who wouldn't stumble blindly into war. Austria was ill-prepared for a war with Constantinople when she also faced enemies such as Marslava and Porcu. Additionally, as long as the Empire remained unaligned in the Balkans, it would be unable to easily secure what it desired without a costly war. For now, the Archduke would need to begin further equipping his forces and forming alliances before any moves against the Byzantines could be ensured to result in success.

Duke Albert looked Dovler over for a moment before smiling and reaching out his hand.

"You will find us quite dedicated allies. You have a deal."

Zalesky-Dovler Agreement
 
Both signatory parties, the Holy Empire of Austria and the Empire of Byzantium, hereby agree to the following:

1) To honor each other's territorial sovereignty with considerations made to future expansions and to refrain from conflict against the other.

2) To honor and abide by a mutual defensive pact, where upon an attack against either party by an outside power in the region shall be treated as a threat to the other's sovereignty, therefore warranting action* undertaken by the un-aggressed party.

3) To recognize each other's spheres of influences within the Balkans and forgo any/all claims to these territories.
- Austria retains authority over the lands of Croatia, Bosnia, Romania, and the Vojvodina region (Serbia).
- Byzantium retains authority over the lands of Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, and Serbia.

4) To support each other's claims over these regions and to defend their legitimacy**

* - Action not susceptible to outright military aide.
**- Support relegated to Austrian claims in Hungary despite said territory's exclusion from the Balkans region.
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Kasnyia
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Signed,

Marius Dovler,
Emissary of Alexanderhaven,
on behalf of His Imperial and Holy Majesty,
Ionnes IX Komnenos
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Kasnyia
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Having delineated the eventual border, the advance continued, so as to sweep up the last remnants. By now, Macedonia had itself become a staging ground, having capitulated before the halt some weeks before. Legate Zogu ordered his and Alexanderhaven's forces to push beyond the Vardar right into the Serbian province of Kosovo.

In Albania, the pause had allowed reinforcements to be sent by Constantinople, as Tirana hardened it's defences with no intention of seceding ground. The battle there was reaching a fever pitch, but the Dalmatian Legion slowly made progress.

In Bulgaria, the southern half of the country had been conquered, but the Moesian Legion was still waiting orders to advance to taking the rest of it, but they would have to wait until Russia had spoken to the Marslavans.

From the air, Montenegro was being bombed from the air in preparation for invasion. To keep Serbia from assisting them, Belgrade was also bombed. The air campaign would cease only when the Byzantine-Alexanderhavenien ground forces caught up to the area.
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Alberto
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Marslavan Foreign Ministry

The Grand Duchy of Marslava reserves itself the right to take any action necessary to guarantee its, and the Serbs' security. If the bombing of Belgrade continues, Marslava will be forced to take action.

Edited by Alberto, Jun 3 2014, 03:09 AM.
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Kasnyia
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OOC- The agreement is not common knowledge.

IC-

The bombing will stop if it swears fealty to the Emperor.
Edited by Kasnyia, May 30 2014, 02:56 PM.
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Alberto
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Marslavan Diplomat


The Grand Duchy of Marslava has transferred much-needed anti-air artillery and related technology to the government of Belgrade. The Roman Empire is advised to cease its attacks on Belgrade if it does not want to suffer the costs of a vigorous resistance. The Grand Duchy of Marslava recalls the Emperor who sits in Costanrtinople that Belgrade's government has had nothing to do with the hostilities taking place in Albania/Montenegro, and that its people should not pay for a war to which they have not taken part. In anyway, the Grand Duchy of Marslava will take all necessary measures to guarantee the independence of Serbia.
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Kasnyia
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OOC- Please edit out knowledge of the Austria-Constantinople pact. It's not common knowledge.

IC-

Serbia must stop interfering in Montenegro in all ways.
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Kasnyia
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As the world looked on in Croatia, the Byzantine Navy sailed, without fanfare, to the Montenegrin coast and prepared their batteries for bombardment. At the same time, an envoy of the Byzantine Emperor was sent to Podorica for the surrender of Montenegro in return for their lives. At the border between Byzantium and Montenegro, the Dalmatian Legion, heavily strengthened in the year since Tirana's capitulation, readied themselves in case the leadership proved foolish.

-----------------

In Bulgaria, the Moesian Legion also began to advance once again, to take what remained of their enemy. The Bulgarian nationalists had held out for a year, but now they were hungry and running out of men, money, and material. Now the time to strike was now....
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Kasnyia
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No response was forthcoming from Podgorica. The Emperor did not have patience. He gave the order to invade.

-----------------

The Byzantine Navy blockaded Herzeg-Novi near the Bosnian-Montenegrin border as the fleet further south began simultaneous bombardment of Budva and Bar. At the same time, the Dalmatian Legion moved northwards up the coastal road to take Ulcinj.

Within an hour of being given the order, the Montenegrin coast was either besieged, destroyed, or taken.

At the same time, forces north of Lake Scutari pushed hard and fast toward Podgorica, which was close to the border. The enemy had attempted to barricade the area, but with only a day to do so, they hadn't been able to do much other than recall military forces from near Bosnia and Serbia to bolster the border with Byzantium. Still, it managed to slow down the Dalmatian Legion for the moment.

Yet another century of the legion meanwhile managed to quietly invade and take Rozaje further north, and were marching slowly toward Berane to cut off any potential reinforcements from the north or Serbia from reaching Podgorica.

------------------

Meanwhile, in Bulgaria, the order was given to take the rest of the coast first, and then the hinterlands.
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Kasnyia
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Within a week, the Dalmatian legion had taken the entire coast except for Herzeg-Novi, which was still blockaded from the sea and being surrounded by the Dalmatian Legion on the ground at present. once they took the border town of Orjen, they would advance on the port.

In the meantime, advances were made from the coast toward the town of Cetinje, as well as to secure the southern and western coastline of Lake Scutari.

In the Podgorica fight, the Byzantine ground forces were currently stopped at the River Cijevna just outside the city. The resistance was high, possibly by the Translava group Byzantium had heard about in intelligence briefings. Rather than push though, Legate Zogu instead ordered his forces to fortify their positions along the river as they waited for the rest of the Legion to surround the city for a siege.

In Berane to the north, there had briefly been an ambush as they crossed the river into the city itself. This lasted a couple of nights, but it was clear the ambushers didn't have the men or material to sustain it much longer than that. They were soon routed and Berane was secured. The decision then was made whether to head north to Bijelo Polje to double the defence line from possible Serbian involvement, or south to Kolasin and Andreijevica to create a dragnet north of Podgorica.

The decision was soon made to go south (at least until the cordon was more secure when forces on the coast moved north to Danilovgrad), though a scout unit would be sent northwest to Mojkovak just in case anyone tried anything from the north.
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Kasnyia
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OOC- Just a note, but the events in this thread pre-date Sed's Greek rebellion.
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Kasnyia
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It took time to find the stragglers, but finally Montenegro was subdued. No time was wasted though, as the Armies of Byzantium were readied at the newly conquered nation's northern border to move into their final prize in this region: Serbia.
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Alberto
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OOC: Serbia is an ally of Marslava, and its rulers have blood ties to Marslava's ruling dinasty. If you want to attack Serbia, you will have to fight Marslava too. Roleplaying a war for Serbia could be interesting, but we need to agree on the story we will be roleplaying.
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Kasnyia
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OOC- PM me the details.
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Kasnyia
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The Dalmatian Legion began its march north, with Kosovo as their first target. Meanwhile, the Moesian Legion in Bulgaria began its march West through Pirot.
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Kasnyia
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From Albania, Byzantine forces moved steadily up the Sitnica river, taking town after town to limited resistance. It seemed most of the Kosovar forces had moved to Pristina and Mitrovica to fight. To that end, they had provisioned themselves well, and were prepared for a long siege that they intended to use to slow down the advance. However, that was only one angle Constantinople was using in their march into Serbia.

From Montenegro, the Byzantines took Prijepolje and were already moving southward to Novi Pazar, to create a pincer on Kosovo. At the same time, other contingents moved northward to Uzice.

From Bulgaria, Pirot had proven surprisingly hard to crack, but crack it did as the Moesian Legion moved on toward Nis which, by contrast, was utterly abandoned. From there, the Legion split, with the main force heading up the highway to Belgrade and other contingents moving to Kosovo via Prokuplje and straight north to Kladovo to secure the eastern borders. Still others went south to meet with a relief force coming from Macedonia up the highway, to sweep away resistance in southern Serbia.
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Kasnyia
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Eventually, all that remained was Belgrade itself. Everything else except Vojvodina, per their agreement with Austria, had been conquered. But Belgrade would prove a tough fight, even completely surrounded as most of the Serb forces had retreated there and Vojvodina, which Austria had not yet physically claimed for themselves. It was to be the last great fight of the campaign.
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Whal
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"Life is too short to be wasted on bad scotch"
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Encrypted Communique
Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
TO: The Roman Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Austrian Empire commends its friend, the Roman Empire, in its invasion of the illegitimate state of Serbia. Austria will continue to support Roman efforts to subjugate Serb forces and will honor the commitments made under the Zalesky-Dovler agreement. Therefore, a gift of 200 Leopard II tanks and 20 of the new Marder V tank destroyers will be sent to the Roman Army for the assistance of a new offensive. Furthermore, the Reichswehr will continue to offer logistical assistance and raw materials for Roman forces.
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Kasnyia
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Encrypted Communique
From the Foreign Ministry in Constantinople
We are grateful to the honrable Austrians for this assistance. God willing, our agreements shall reach fruition on the ground and we shall live side by side in harmony as good neighbors, governing and transitioning these lawless lands to order.
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Kasnyia
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For months, it was a siege. Belgrade was the last great city not back under order of one power or another, and they knew it. The legions of Constantinople took their time consolidating their hold on Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, and Bulgaria. They formed a great wall of soldiers and fences along Bosnia's border, making sure no terrorists were able to successfully flee from Austria's forces there, per Constantinople's agreements with Vienna.

The satellite villages and hinterlands of Belgrade fell one by one over the many weeks of siege, but the city itself still remained. Many were fleeing to Vojvodina, which Austria had yet to conquer thanks to the war in Bosnia, but that would soon be resolved.

The noose was tightening. Soon, Belgrade would be back under Byzantine rule.
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Kasnyia
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It took over a year, but finally, it happened.

A small armored car belonging to Belgrade's defenders, adorned with white flag, came racing out of Belgrade toward the front line units of Constantinople's forces. It was a quick meeting. It seemed the people of the city were being starved by the siege and in an effort to save them, the local commanders were willing to surrender for the city to survive. The terms were agreed; the defenders would disarm and those who wanted to flee would be allowed to head north. The rest would be pardoned as long as they kept the peace and did not disobey the Empire.

A few weeks later, the campaign for Serbia (sans Vojvodina) was over. The Reconquest had been a success.
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