Expansion of Almohed (PT)
OOC: Abt. 1558. This RP goes with this thread here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=462780).
The Damar Kingdom of Almohed is a nation in the Middle East. It has a population of about 48 million people. It has a army of 900,000 men, and a navy of 600,000 men.
Map (http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3387/untitled16jb.png)
The government is ruled by a monarch, who inherits his throne hereditarily.
-----
King James I was getting irritated. He needed more land, and more bases. He already knew he wanted to expand to the south. But he also was interested in finding island bases for his navy.
Looking at a map, he thought he found what he was looking for. To his knowledge, the Iberian Peninsula was open for conquest, only the primitive Iberian Celts inhabited that area as far as he knew. But he was more interested in the islands off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula (Azores and Canary Islands). Palma, near Ostia interested His Majesty as well. He called Commodore James DuPrix to his war room.
Com. DuPrix was in charge of 879 Almodite caravels, the Sixth Naval Squadron. His duty would be to sail to those islands, and claim them for the Empire. He was to gather 100 ships and set off immediately. The islands were small, and would be quite easy to conquer, but His Majesty did not wish to take any chances, if they perhaps encountered hostiles, he would have sufficient forces to battle them.
-----
Almodite Caravel Stats:
Displacement: 50 tons
Length: 30m
Beam: 7m
Complement: 25 men
Armament: 5 guns
A week later, DuPrix set off on his journey to conquer the three island chains. Fifty ships would sail to Palma. It would only take them about six days to reach their destination.
Twenty-five ships set off for the farthest island chain, it would take them about two weeks to reach their destination.
The last twenty-five ships set sail to the final island chain, it would take about ten days for them to reach their destination.
Com. DuPrix was in his third day of sailing. He was with the largest contigent of ships, in about three more days time, they would reach their destination. DuPrix prayed to God that it was uninhabited. If they were successful, His Majesty might promote him to Governor of the very islands he was going to colonize. It would be a small post, but he would be in a very influential position. Those islands would give Almohed control of the Mediterranean.
His Captain was striding towards him purposefully.
"What is it Captain?"
"Sir, we have a problem. Mutiny aboard sir."
"MUTINY?! We're not even on a long voyage! It's just a standard run! How many culprits?"
"Six sir."
"Put them in chains and on rowers. They will row day and night. No rest. No food and water. Put a flogger to oversee them. We do not tolerate mutiny in the Empire."
"Aye sir."
With that the Captain turned on his heels and strode in the direction from which he came, a different purpose in his step now.
But DuPrix thought to himself, 'Mutiny? Why would they do such a idiotic thing on such a short voyage. If we were sailing to Asia or to the Far North maybe. But not on such a short voyage. These young rascals eager for power know nothing. As soon as we get back, they will be publicly humiliated and tortured. It will serve them right.'
A few days after Com. DuPrix sailed away, His Majesty called a certain Captain to his war room. Capt. Harold Gregory.
Capt. Gregory was a military lifer. There were other choices in careers of course, Capt. Gregory just liked his job. He got to kill people...generally.
When called to His Majesty's war room, Capt. Gregory promptly dropped what he was doing and did as the King bade.
"Yes Your Majesty?"
"Captain I have a special mission for you. I want you to take a carrack, and I want you to travel to the Sinai Peninsula. I want you to conquer that land. I will send St. Michael's Rangers with you. That will give you a army of 28,580 men to conquer the area. After you conquer it, begin to fortify it. I want five settlements began in six months. It would be faster to send all of you on land, but Qarez will probably not let us pass through their land. Fortunately we are not far from the border. I want you to set off tomorrow for Sinai right next to the Qarez border as to make your trip faster. We must gain a stronghold in Africa. I have been told Ostia plans to make most of that area a colony. I do not mind having Ostia for a neighbor, but their colonization will most likely block our attempts at spreading further into Africa."
"Understood sir."
"Now begone."
"At once sir."
-----
Next Day
Only five miles from the Qarez border, Capt. Gregory set off on his carrack. The St. Michael's Rangers had already began their journey into Sinai through Qarez. By the time the ships reached Sinai's shores, the St. Michael's Rangers would already be proclaiming the land for Almohed.
-----
St. Michael's Rangers - Same Day
Sir George St-Michael was already in Sinai when the ships had set off. The Rangers had not encountered a single person on their journey. Unbeknownst to Capt. Gregory, His Majesty sent the Rangers a full three days before Capt. Gregory ever knew about the invasion. His Majesty did not want to take any chances with the capture of Sinai.
Carrack Stats:
Displacement: 500 tons
Length: 38.5m
Beam: 11.7m
Complement: 400
Armament: 75-90 guns
It had been two-weeks since Capt. Gregory had landed in Sinai. By now, Capt. Gregory had conquered Sinai, and was fortifying the area. The inhabitants of the area were quite receptive (for the most part) to the Almodite invaders. But there were too many areas of trouble for the Empire to consider Sinai to be a peaceful territory.
Most cities were under Almohed control. Twelve were being transformed from their rural state into cities worthy of the Empire. But the territory was far from being under complete control, it would take another half year or so before it could be proclaimed a province, and another six to eight months after that before it could become a county.
-----
Com. DuPrix's ships had reached their destinations safely, the last arriving a week before the complet conquest of Sinai. And all were in the process of building cities on the islands. There were few natives on the islands, and the natives that were put to work for the Almodite conquerers. The islands conquered were to be called the King James Islands.
A week later, Capt. Gregory had finished setting up his temporary headquarters. They would be based in the new town of Jamestown in the Sinai Territory. The St. Michael's Rangers were now spread throughout Sinai, enforcing peace and the Almodite rule.
Sir George St-Michael had made his headquarters right next to Capt. Gregory's. About 5,000 of his men were stationed in Jamestown to build up the city. Other members were spread out and had between 500 and 2,000 Rangers in one city. Due to the new role of the St. Michael's Rangers, Capt. Gregory re-commissioned them under the authority of King James I of Almohed, as the Sinai Rangers.
Also, under the authority of the King, Capt. Gregory was given the rank of Provisional Governor of the Sinai Territory. It would take a while before Sinai could become a actual county of Almohed. But Gov. Gregory was more than happy to be the one in charge.
Already, a provincial militia was beginning to be raised. It would consist of 500 swordsmen, 100 archers, and 50 cavalry (rangers). It was under the command of Capt. Abir Moshem, a local who allied himself with the invaders immediately. The militia was commissioned under the authority of His Majesty by Gov. Gregory as the Sinai Guardians.
Due to the promotion of Com. James DuPrix to Governor, a Captain, Luke Marcus, was promoted to Commodore to replace James DuPrix as the commander of the Sixth Naval Squadron.
Also, the town of New Damar was being established on the largest of the King James Islands, it would serve as the headquarters for Gov. DuPrix's regime.
In light of the fact that many nations were occupied with the war in Aust, Almohed took this as a perfect time to expand. His Majesty was out to gain major lands in Africa. The darker-skinned people were naive, and would be easy to conquer. His Majesty had sent many transports to North Africa, filled with cavalry. To be specific, His Majesty sent rangers.
Rangers were different from ordinary cavalry. Ordinary cavalry fought with melee weapons. Rangers were equipped with bows and arrows. They were crack-shot archers on horseback, horses that were bred to withstand the desert heat. What most would call Arabian Stallions. This allowed the rangers to do quick hit-and-run attacks. Very little loss, and a lot of damage. There was really no need for ordinary infantry in conquest or policing. Almohed only kept a standing infantry to repel invasionary forces, if they ever came.
His Majesty sent twenty-five transport ships to North Africa, carrying ten thousand rangers and their horses. The conquest of Carthage had begun.
In all reality, the conquest of Africa had begun before the sailing of the rangers, troops from the King James Islands had been settling on mainland for a few months now, slowly building up Almodite culture in those areas so that the natives would become more receptive to their new government. The land was desert, so the Almodites did not fear jungle warriors, as they knew they would eventually down in southern Africa. That land, they were told, was inhabited by demon warriors from hell, let loose on earth to torment and to destroy. It was told that all a man had to do was look at one of their faces, and he would die. And although most believed these stories to be false, fairytales, it still scared them. But they would not have to answer to these "demon-warriors" yet.
-----
Capt. Lucas set foot on shore, the land of Carthage. There was a bustling city nearby, for which the territory was named. But it was what could be called a city-state. No real form of government extending beyond the city itself.
Capt. Lucas began to set up his camp, it would be no use to attack today as the men were too weary from the ship, and the horses needed their rest. But he planned a full assault come the morning. And so he sat about to inform his underlings of his battle plan.