An Age of Miracles Continues: The Empire of Rhomania
- Thread starter Basileus444
- Start date
Remind me what the promises Odysseus has made are? Obviously, there's his one to Ibrahim...
It's Andreas III, Iskandar, and Maria respectively.
Well at least we know that Persia is definitely not on the chopping block as said by Odysseus.
Another great update 
Good to see that Iskandar is savvy enough to assert that he is not a Roman puppet. Whilst there is a part of me that would love to see a Roman victory in the Eternal War, this makes more sense.
Honestly, it'd be great to see a back-to-back relationship between the Romans and Persians. I do hope this can lead to a variant on the treaty of Zuhab - and considering where we are in the timeline, I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Stable borders for the Romans, Persians and Georgians in the Middle East. Its what was speculated with Andreas and Osman, and whilst they don't have to be Super-Allies, a mutual defence pact between them both and Georgia post-war would be incredible. It doesn't even need to be "We'll bring the whole might of our military" but a "We have agreed to provide this many men if attacked" style deal. It could just be a negotiated permanent border with Northern Mesopotamia ceded, but the rest secured for Persia.
It'd complete, if not cement D3's gains in Europe as well. A Roman Empire that doesn't really have to worry about Persia is harder to trifle with (as we saw at the end of the war) and can focus on maintaining a status quo on the Persian and European fronts, allowing focus on the Carthaginian and Indonesian regions.
That serves Constantinople, but it also serves Persia - as it can focus on the Central Asian and Indian frontiers more readily, which has the potential to shift Indian politics away from Vijayanagar (spelt it first time, woo) if only an inch. Plus if peace can be maintained, there is little reason why Persia can't compete with the Romans in different ways - such as injecting themselves into the East Asian trade by pouring the resources saved from fighting the Romans into influencing the East and building their own fleets. A treaty might bind them to peace, but it might only be peace at home - if Persia can play nice with Vijayanagar then it could get involved further afield.
Last Georgia may be hemmed in in Asia, but assuming it gets enough meat then its well placed to reorient itself towards influencing other directions. Having mountains to the north, and stable borders with two stonking huge Empires in a mutual treaty isn't anything to sniff at.
Good to see that Iskandar is savvy enough to assert that he is not a Roman puppet. Whilst there is a part of me that would love to see a Roman victory in the Eternal War, this makes more sense.Honestly, it'd be great to see a back-to-back relationship between the Romans and Persians. I do hope this can lead to a variant on the treaty of Zuhab - and considering where we are in the timeline, I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Stable borders for the Romans, Persians and Georgians in the Middle East. Its what was speculated with Andreas and Osman, and whilst they don't have to be Super-Allies, a mutual defence pact between them both and Georgia post-war would be incredible. It doesn't even need to be "We'll bring the whole might of our military" but a "We have agreed to provide this many men if attacked" style deal. It could just be a negotiated permanent border with Northern Mesopotamia ceded, but the rest secured for Persia.
It'd complete, if not cement D3's gains in Europe as well. A Roman Empire that doesn't really have to worry about Persia is harder to trifle with (as we saw at the end of the war) and can focus on maintaining a status quo on the Persian and European fronts, allowing focus on the Carthaginian and Indonesian regions.
That serves Constantinople, but it also serves Persia - as it can focus on the Central Asian and Indian frontiers more readily, which has the potential to shift Indian politics away from Vijayanagar (spelt it first time, woo) if only an inch. Plus if peace can be maintained, there is little reason why Persia can't compete with the Romans in different ways - such as injecting themselves into the East Asian trade by pouring the resources saved from fighting the Romans into influencing the East and building their own fleets. A treaty might bind them to peace, but it might only be peace at home - if Persia can play nice with Vijayanagar then it could get involved further afield.
Last Georgia may be hemmed in in Asia, but assuming it gets enough meat then its well placed to reorient itself towards influencing other directions. Having mountains to the north, and stable borders with two stonking huge Empires in a mutual treaty isn't anything to sniff at.
Rhomania and Persia being like step-siblings in a TV show (maybe something like "One Tree Hill" although I've only seen a smattering of episodes years ago so I can't say for sure) who bicker and pick on each other but close ranks when anyone outside the family tries to attack either one of them makes me smile.
Excellent job as always.
Excellent job as always.
What if in Schoolhouse Imperial there's different kinds of schools based on countries like Rhomania or Persia? Easy way for a friendly rivalry to emerge between the neighboring schools.
It's honestly why I prefer to imagine the show's setting to be like High School. So much easier to create delicious drama and suspense out of each character.
Fantastic update. I know all will be revealed in good time, but I can't help but wonder what Iskander's plans are. He obviously doesn't have enough troops to vie for the throne just yet and striking east on his own to try to gather more support seems like a great way to get killed quickly. I doubt non-captive audiences will be as receptive to his speeches at the moment. I would suppose his new army will move alongside Odysseus's waiting for an opportunity for another pitched battle with Ibrahim. It would be hard to have them function as a surprise in that battle since it seems like the garrison in Mosul was given the choice to defect to him, so the secret if it ever was one is out.
I imagine that the Romans will continue their advance up until the line that they have designated as their ideal border then turning east. Whether they can coordinate with the Georgians in territory designated as Persian in the imagined post-war world will depend entirely on how much diplomatic framework has been laid there. In a forum that loves to paint maps it's hard to conceive of a country that would agree to being completely closed in by stable borders, but the Gegorgians can't reasonably hope to conquer all of Persia and guaranteed peace at the expense of grandiose ambitions doesn't sound like too bad a deal.
On a separate note, what's the deal with the guard tagmas at the moment? If I recall they weren't attached to either the eastern or western army directly and had reached a pretty good size by the end of the last war. Are they participating in this campaign?
I imagine that the Romans will continue their advance up until the line that they have designated as their ideal border then turning east. Whether they can coordinate with the Georgians in territory designated as Persian in the imagined post-war world will depend entirely on how much diplomatic framework has been laid there. In a forum that loves to paint maps it's hard to conceive of a country that would agree to being completely closed in by stable borders, but the Gegorgians can't reasonably hope to conquer all of Persia and guaranteed peace at the expense of grandiose ambitions doesn't sound like too bad a deal.
On a separate note, what's the deal with the guard tagmas at the moment? If I recall they weren't attached to either the eastern or western army directly and had reached a pretty good size by the end of the last war. Are they participating in this campaign?
Might be only a handful of guard regiments are with Odysseus. After all he went for a more surgical strike army that can effectively conquer without the need for massive logistics.
The Promises: They are to Andreas III (fulfill all of his ambitions), Iskandar, Maria (find a way to make right for forcing her to marry him), and to Demetrios III (ensure his final wish is fulfilled).
Roman-Ottoman relations: This is marking the start of a shift in these. While they won’t be without tensions and issues, at least it will be moving away from the ‘it’s Tuesday, must be time for another war’.
Schoolhouse Imperial: I was always picturing it as a high school show.
Guard tagmata: Some of them are participating, with others remaining in Constantinople. Because they’re more expensive than the provincials, because of the economic issues they’ve been allowed to run down a bit more (ex. On paper they should be 5000 each, but are more like 4200 instead as old soldiers muster out and are not immediately replaced), so on the battlefield they aren’t as tactically useful.
Roman-Ottoman relations: This is marking the start of a shift in these. While they won’t be without tensions and issues, at least it will be moving away from the ‘it’s Tuesday, must be time for another war’.
Schoolhouse Imperial: I was always picturing it as a high school show.
Guard tagmata: Some of them are participating, with others remaining in Constantinople. Because they’re more expensive than the provincials, because of the economic issues they’ve been allowed to run down a bit more (ex. On paper they should be 5000 each, but are more like 4200 instead as old soldiers muster out and are not immediately replaced), so on the battlefield they aren’t as tactically useful.
East-1641 & 1642: The Realm of Mesopotamia
East-1641 & 1642: The Realm of Mesopotamia
1641 continued: There is a hiatus after the fall of Mosul. Despite the substantial stockpiling of supplies during the truce, the sheer amount of material needed to reduce the city had exceeded even the Romans’ most pessimistic projections. There is a forced lull as materials are brought forward, the Romans not advancing until mid-November, a month after the fall of Mosul. Odysseus intends to campaign without any stint in winter quarters, firstly to keep the pressure up on Ibrahim and also to make up for the extended stall at Mosul.
The advance is slow but steady. The various towns and cities of northern Mesopotamia are mostly fortified, but none nearly to the size and extent of Mosul. However even a small fortified town can tie up a tagma for at least a week in a regular siege; things could be sped up through more aggressive tactics, but that trades time for blood, a lot of blood, and Odysseus is not willing to make that exchange.
The goal is to get as many of these minor-but-cannot-be-ignored strongholds to surrender quickly, and to that end Odysseus employs what is now called a ‘chocolate cake or chainsaw’ approach, essentially a carrot and stick approach but more extreme. Those places that surrender promptly are treated extremely leniently while those that resist receive absolutely no mercy. The effectiveness of the strategy is questionable. Many of the townspeople are divided in how to respond, but when they debate, the delay is often long enough that it is viewed as resistance, meaning it’s the chainsaw, and so the townspeople resist to the bitter end. It is estimated that at least a fifth, and likely more, of the population of northern Mesopotamia, is killed, either directly or indirectly, by the Romans over the course of 1641. While Roman offensives into the region have always been devastating, the scale is unprecedented.
Iskandar is there very publicly trying to encourage the locals to surrender promptly, but with little success. Most of his new followers remain around Mosul, although in nicer lodgings with some of them practicing their peacetime trades for the time-being. Because they won’t fight in Mesopotamia, marching them alongside the Roman army would be a very large logistical burden to an already-strained system, for no tactical purpose. Furthermore their non-fighting while the Romans are right there bleeding would certainly spark resentment among the Roman soldiers, which Odysseus and Iskandar really don’t want.
The downside is that during this stage of the war, Iskandar is accompanied only by a bodyguard and senior retainers and entourage. The size disparity between the large Roman army and Iskandar’s small train means the ‘I am not a Roman puppet’ is a hard sell, while Iskandar’s retainers are Persians, lacking the personal contacts with the local Mesopotamians that might be able to overcome that obstacle.
The responses thus vary wildly. Some do come over to join Iskandar’s service, but under the same terms as those of the captives from Qara Tappa. Others take the chocolate cake. But many choose, or are forced to resist. One garrison commander who certainly knows his audience retorts that he will surrender to Roman rule when the Romans accept a German Catholic as their Emperor.
Over in Syria the Egyptians are making good progress, with Jerusalem falling with relatively little bloodshed while the Romans were stalled at Mosul. The Egyptian leadership held a public service of thanksgiving in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Orthodox clergy giving way with extremely obvious bad grace. At the same time delegates from the Coptic Patriarch, the Ethiopian Abun, and the Armenian Katholikos are in Constantinople for negotiations regarding the settlement of religious properties in the Holy Land.
The Roman advance, while successful, is slowly whittling away at the Roman army. Garrisons need to be manned and extending supply and communication lines need to be guarded. Even in the absence of major battles or sieges, the steady wastage from disease, accidents, and skirmishes are ever constant. Reinforcements come in from Anatolia but since the initial army was specifically composed of the elite, even very good replacements mark a net loss in quality.
Furthermore the reinforcements don’t quite make up for all the various elements that are siphoning strength away from the field army. The harvest in both Roman Europe and Anatolia in 1641 is bad, ruined by poor weather, with only Thrace and Bithynia performing better in the sense that their harvests are rated as mediocre. While harvest failures are a regular occurrence, usually they do not affect more than 2-3 themes; a shortfall on this level is much rarer and lacks the leeway in the more typical harvest failure. This is always a precarious moment in pre-industrial societies, with bread prices climbing rapidly to be followed by the inevitable bread riots.
While Romans with some resources can eke through one bad harvest, those already on the margins cannot. It is estimated that around 1% of the Roman heartland’s population, about 150,000, perish as a result, primarily in the countryside that lacks the bulk import structure for foodstuffs, and mainly the very old and very young. (Such crises and demographic blows are common in pre-industrial societies where food scarcity is rampant to a degree people in modern developed societies can barely imagine.) Athena, who is concerned about maintaining security and stability in the provinces, is reluctant to part with too many soldiers.
1642: Odysseus’ feelings on his sister’s actions are unknown but he continues the offensive, the Roman army of some 55000 soldiers setting up their first trenches around Baghdad in February. Baghdad does not have the sheer quality of Mosul’s fortifications but it does have modern defenses and is much bigger than Mosul. With its population swelled by refugees from the north, the inhabitants number at over 400,000, making Baghdad bigger than Constantinople.
That is a weakness, not a strength. In terms of fighting ability, many of the four hundred thousand are useless, but they all have mouths and bellies, and supplies are limited. The Romans prosecute an active siege rather just a blockade, but it seems quite likely that hunger, not cannonades, will force Baghdad to surrender.
Ibrahim is active in the area with a rebuilt field army which is comparable in size to the Romans. He is suffering from manpower issues the same as the Romans, although his combat losses have been heavier, but that is compensated by his home field advantage. The basic setup is similar to Mosul, but Ibrahim’s strategy has changed. Baghdad can’t hold out like extensively prepared Mosul had, and given Qara Tappa Ibrahim is less confident in field fortifications. With the Ottoman troops demoralized by the reverses of 1641, he needs a win to boost their fighting spirits, and with the Romans spread out having to cover all of Baghdad’s massive circuit of defenses, a fight in the open is more appealing.
In a turnabout from Qara Tappa, night marches and vigorous Ottoman scout work keep the Romans from discovering the main Ottoman army until it is close. Surprise is not total, but due to the sheer size of Baghdad’s siege lines with a river bisecting them, Roman reserves are minimal and cannot move very quickly to where they are needed.
The Ottoman attack bites deep into the Roman outer defenses but doesn’t break them; fortunately for the Romans the Ottoman artillery train is not recovered from Qara Tappa and relatively weak, a factor that likely makes the difference. The fighting is intense and bloody, fought mostly hand to hand in a tangle of Roman trenches and tents. Meanwhile a sally of the Ottoman garrison piles into the Roman lines in the attacked sector, and likewise initial success is unable to be decisive due to the poor equipment of the garrison.
Meanwhile Roman reserves have finally worked their way across the river but rather than feeding them into the abattoir Odysseus masses them on the Ottoman right flank, using the clouds of dust and powder thrown up by the battle to hide them. Once he has enough, he lets fly. The Roman counterattack crashes into the Ottoman flank, shattering it and sending the fragments fleeing in rout. Ottoman reserves check the rout for a time and keep the Romans from rolling up the rest of their line until brought-up Roman artillery, mainly those Triune field guns, bash them enough that an ambrolar charge breaks them.
The battle of Baghdad is like a second Qara Tappa. Roman losses are around six thousand, a heavy proportion since not all of the Roman army was engaged. Ottoman casualties, including prisoners, are sixteen thousand, mostly from the elements that had been in the initial attack and thus were unable to retreat. In terms of manpower, it is a hard but not crippling blow to Ibrahim. However he has lost much of the army’s equipment, artillery, and baggage, not to the extent of Qara Tappa, but still a great deal and the loss made even worse by it compounding the earlier. Furthermore Ibrahim no longer has the Baghdad arsenal for resupply. And lost morale is even harder to replace than lost equipment. After the battle, aside from cavalry harassment Ibrahim gives up the fight for Mesopotamia, retreating to the east side of the Zagros to lick his wounds.
That does not end the siege of Baghdad though, which despite the retreat of the Shah refuses to surrender. There was a second garrison sally during the battle, this one attacking directly opposite from the Ottoman attack. It had been comprised of a mix of refugees from the north and madrasa students from the city, poorly-equipped and badly-trained, yet highly enthusiastic and very importantly enjoying a massive local superiority in numbers. The Roman lines had been stripped of many troops to meet Ibrahim. This attack had been very successful, spiking nineteen Roman cannon and wrecking many siege works. One contingent, making it further than others, fights its way to a hospital behind the lines where they kill over two hundred inmates and medical staff before they are driven back.
Those who sallied are exultant at their accomplishments but more sober Baghdadi are horrified. Roman and Ottoman regulars don’t have formally agreed rules of war, but there are unspoken ones. On the battlefield, a wounded soldier is still a soldier and thus all bets are off. However medical locations, including field hospitals, are supposed to be captured, not attacked (unless they’re actively defended, in which cases all bets are again off). The captured inmates are not guaranteed proper medical care and attention, difficult to guarantee in the 1600s generally, but they can at least expect not to be beaten to death with a musket butt on their cot. The Roman soldiers are utterly seething when they hear of this. While the regulars captured from Ibrahim’s field army are treated as per the unspoken rules (they can be identified by their blue uniforms), all captives from the garrison sallies, both of them, are executed in full sight of the Baghdadi.
The Baghdadi argue but end up choosing to continue fighting. Some are buoyed by the success of the sally. The city had supported Osman, not Ibrahim, when the two brothers fought and the inhabitants have little love for their Shah, while still hating the Romans. Many argue that they don’t need Ibrahim. From their minarets they can see practically everything that goes on in the Roman camp and they can see that their numbers, compared to the metropolis, are small. The spring rains will soon swell the river, making the siege even harder to prosecute. Feeding the massive Baghdadi population is a serious problem, but the Romans have supply issues too. Finally, and this is likely the clincher, the Baghdadi have already crossed the Rubicon and forfeited their opportunity for mercy.
The siege of Mosul had been brutal and harsh, but it doesn’t match the ugliness of Baghdad. Prisoners on both sides are lucky if they are killed on the spot, since otherwise they can expect to be tortured to death or strapped to embankments to be killed by their own side’s fire. The level of sadism and humanity’s ingenuity when it comes to inflicting suffering on other humans is on full display on both sides, and it is this psychopathy that manifests itself most clearly here that is often the reason the conflict is named the War of Wrath.
The swollen river hampers the Roman siege but does not stop it. Both sides suffer from inadequate supplies, but the heaviest blow by far falls on the Baghdadi poor who die by the thousands, then tens of thousands, from deprivation.
On May 6 practical breaches are smashed into the city’s defenses and notably Odysseus does not advance a last offer to surrender. Also notably Iskandar does not make any known efforts for clemency. Unlike Mosul, resistance largely collapses once the Romans are inside the city, but still four days pass before Odysseus declares Baghdad pacified and the customary three days of license commence, so Baghdad is given over to a week of horror.
Of the 400,000 Baghdadi in February, at least half died during the siege, mostly of starvation or disease. Exactly how many the Romans killed during the sack is unknown, but in 1645 the city is listed as only having 40,000 inhabitants, although many survivors may have emigrated before then and so are not counted.
After the horrors of Baghdad, southern Mesopotamia is an anti-climax. With Ibrahim beyond the Zagros the area capitulates with little fuss. The Arabs who dominate the area and have a large Shia percentage are much less anti-Roman than their northern neighbors. That is not to say that they would welcome a Roman overlord, but this far south the odds of Roman annexation look substantially unlikely. The attitude is a relief to Odysseus. The mountains of corpses at Baghdad are a smorgasbord of disease, badly affecting the Roman army and further depleting its ranks. Basra surrenders to a Roman cavalry column of 2000 men, which is excellent news since besieging it with 30000 is unlikely to have succeeded.
The fall of Basra marks a shift in the war. Mesopotamia has been conquered, even if most people are speculating, anticipating, or dreading its post-war status. Ibrahim’s might has been wounded but he is back in his Persian power base, which had backed him during the war with his brother Osman at the beginning of his reign. If Odysseus ceded Mesopotamia to Iskandar while Ibrahim still retains Persia and then stands aside, Iskandar is almost certain to suffer the same fate as Osman. Odysseus’ promise to his younger brother remains unfulfilled.
The army that marches forth towards the Zagros is different than that which marched down Mesopotamia. The Romans are now at 30,000 men available for continued offensive, but they are not alone. Iskandar’s forces are now present and armed, mostly with captured Ottoman weaponry, but with some surplus Roman gear when necessary, their kit including artillery. They will now clearly be fighting for Iskandar, not the Romans, and thus they are willing to fight. They number 22,000 strong. Together, the armies of Odysseus and Iskandar march east.
A bloody and brutal conflict, but I suppose one that was a long time coming. The human loss at Baghdad is horrible, I wonder if the property damage is commensurate. I know there have been some vicious sacks in previous Roman-Persian wars, but I'm assuming there was still a large artistic and academic legacy within Baghdad at this point. Is loot from this campaign doing much to benefit the Roman treasury?
We'll see about the loyalty of Iskander's army, but I'm inclined to believe they'll stick with him as long as things don't start looking grim. If they felt conned/pressed into his service, they likely would have simply deserted during the long campaign through Mesopotamia, while Iskander was away from the bulk of his forces.
Seems like things have been fairly quiet on the Georgian front. I assume things as proceeding as planned there. Maybe some steep casualties, but no unexpected reversals. With Ibrahim struggling to keep putting together opposition to Odysseus I can't imagine any large counteroffensives in the north from him.
We'll see about the loyalty of Iskander's army, but I'm inclined to believe they'll stick with him as long as things don't start looking grim. If they felt conned/pressed into his service, they likely would have simply deserted during the long campaign through Mesopotamia, while Iskander was away from the bulk of his forces.
Seems like things have been fairly quiet on the Georgian front. I assume things as proceeding as planned there. Maybe some steep casualties, but no unexpected reversals. With Ibrahim struggling to keep putting together opposition to Odysseus I can't imagine any large counteroffensives in the north from him.
He has the advantage that the only people in Rhomania that he needs to keep happy at the moment is Odysseus and the army. He's close friends with Odysseus and has been with the army most of his adult life. They are of one purpose and are very much realists and working towards the end goal of two strong, stable states, with fixed borders. Short of backstabbing the Romans, and trying to reverse all losses in this conflict Iskander has the leeway to grant pretty much anything he needs to with regards to the Persian nobility and Persian and Mesopotamian populace.
Well that answers that question from God-only-knows how many updates ago.
One of the things visibly seen in your writing as opposed to many, many other works of fiction is the effect of morale. In lots of fiction, morale is either ignored outright or simply buoyed up with a great speech from a king or general and not thought about again until after the battle is over. You've always been faithful to the fact that morale matters a great deal more than most fiction writers ever say it does which is very nice to see.
Not an expert in Persian geography - is there a way Ibrahim can funnel the Roman/Iskander army and slowly whittle it down via raids or ambuscades or does he have to pick a spot and fight a pitched battle once and for all?
Donald Reaver
Donor
The Roman army at a price has really won its goals, fighting through the Zargos mountains does not sound like a good idea. Iskander needs to go on or loose his attempt at the throne, and most likely die. Mesopotamia has been broken, the borders will be advanced, the remaining Muslim population may be driven out of some areas.
Most likely Ibrahim will try this as the combined army attempts to cross the Zagros Mountains. This is what the Zagros Mountains look like from space:
Lots of narrow valleys skirting around mountain ridges. Very much prime ambush country.
There are, today, two passes through the mountains east of Basra. The northern route is more rugged, but logistically has access to more water resources and offers a straight route to Isfahan. However, the crossing of the Karun River is likely to be a very big headache for the Romans. The southern route is less rugged, but has less water and while Shiraz is a prize its one that doesn't offer many options to really hit the Persian heartland.
Militarily, the northern route makes more sense. Conveniently, it also makes narrative sense in putting obstacles in the Romans' path.
Fantastically written once again!
That is an utter decimation (or inverse decimation I suppose) of Baghdad, but it does present an interesting opportunity for Odysseus post-war if it marks the limit of Roman territory - resettling the city with Greeks Post-War and renaming it could essentially anchor Roman control in the area. It isn't insurmountable since its still surrounded by the rural population, but it'd be a good "eastern capital" given some TLC. Though likely I would expect some Shia from the south to move in too.
Further, its probably the best place for a treaty to be signed, but also for the heart of whatever post-war consensus exists politically and culturally for the Romans and Persians, just as it was when Syria and Mesopotamia was conquered by the Caliphate, a place to share their collective knowledge.
It is good to see that the armies are on more equal terms going into Persia, though I expect it'll be hard fought, even with the Georgians providing a threat from a different angle. I've been hoping for it forever, but I'd love to see the Pashtun revisit their Hephthalite roots and effectively provide another side for the conflict. I'm all for an assertive Afghanistan region for the Ottomans to respect.
That is an utter decimation (or inverse decimation I suppose) of Baghdad, but it does present an interesting opportunity for Odysseus post-war if it marks the limit of Roman territory - resettling the city with Greeks Post-War and renaming it could essentially anchor Roman control in the area. It isn't insurmountable since its still surrounded by the rural population, but it'd be a good "eastern capital" given some TLC. Though likely I would expect some Shia from the south to move in too.
Further, its probably the best place for a treaty to be signed, but also for the heart of whatever post-war consensus exists politically and culturally for the Romans and Persians, just as it was when Syria and Mesopotamia was conquered by the Caliphate, a place to share their collective knowledge.
It is good to see that the armies are on more equal terms going into Persia, though I expect it'll be hard fought, even with the Georgians providing a threat from a different angle. I've been hoping for it forever, but I'd love to see the Pashtun revisit their Hephthalite roots and effectively provide another side for the conflict. I'm all for an assertive Afghanistan region for the Ottomans to respect.