Toggle Background Color
Chapter Seven: The Most Dangerous Man in the Middle East
Demetre's first act as king is to welcome the Jews back from exile. He will have need of their services.
Demetre is the model of a gentle king. Patient and kind, he is content with his lot, but he knows he has duties he must fulfill toward his kingdom.
He has also decreed that should he fall in battle, his brother will take over the kingdom, as Demetre has no children ready to take the crown.
The Caliph invades the last Georgian holdouts in the Middle East. Not only that, but he has called in his allies Egypt and Afghanistan.
But the enemy are too many and Demetre's only ally, the Ilkhanate, is too weak to help him.
All he can do is surrender his land.
All right, I need to get something off my chest. I hate hate hate hate HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the Mongols! First off, they have the most BS casus belli. They can target anybody in the world with it. Anybody. Not only that, but they take any territory they occupy, not just the wargoal. So they won't let you surrender until the warscore hits 100%.
Second, they seem to have far more troops then they should be able to have. I'm not talking about the deathstacks. Later one you'll see pictures of de jure Syria having 60,000 troops (yet oddly enough, only about 9000 will show up).
Third, they have the Cultural Bonds ability. This means any Mongol leader can call any other Mongol leader for aid, regardless of marriage. And just about everyone in the Middle East is Mongol now.
Which leads me to my final point. The Mongols get bonus culture conversion speed. WTF Paradox?!
OK, rant over.
To console himself, Demetre commands that a grand tournament should be held.
Only for the Golden Horde to invade again.
Furious, Demetre hires everyone mercenary he can get his hands on and attacks the main army.
He charges ahead and hacks down Mongols in his way.
Having cowed the Khan, Demetre exacts a humiliating reparations payment from the Mongols.
He then turns around and attacks the weakened Golden Horde and starts the second holy war for Sarkel.
Khutula continues to expand his empire, this time launching a Jihad for Armenia.
Without the Betazids' massive army, the Horde must submit to Georgia-Alania.
A mere three months pass by before the Georgians must come to the Byzantines' aid. The Sarmins of Egypt have launched their own invasion of Anatolia and they have called in the Caliph to aid them. The Byzantines are the last bulwark against Muslims incursions from the Middle East. They must not fall.
Every. Single. War. Is. An. Invasion. No holy wars. No claim wars. Just FREAKING INVASIONS!
Demetre shows the same courage he did in the wars with the Golden Horde.
He preps another group of mercenaries to fight the Muslims. As long as the Muslims do not occupy any land, the war should be over shortly.
Demetre's brother-in-law Albano creates the Empire of Carpathia and should be a powerful ally in the years to come.
Despite being one of the richest men in the kingdom Doge, Mikheil is still trying to get more money. His repayments are put into the war fund.
During rest at the capital, Demetre's wife asks him for money for new clothes. Demetre is interested only in seeking God's aid in the war. His faith rejuvenated after church, Demetre returns to the fight.
The combined Byzantine-Georgian forces are too much for the muslims and they must surrender.
With a young Sultan on the throne and a bankrupt administration, times are tough ahead for the Egyptians.
Egypt quickly erupted into civil war. The best kind of victory is the kind that completely breaks your opponents.
Far away, a Nestorian rebel seizes control of Socotra. He won't control it for long before the Ayyubids come along.
In celebration of the great victory, Demetre orders a feast to be held. He's completely forgotten about the tournament.
He also reconciles with an old rival.
Good news is cut short by another invasion.
Though it saddens him greatly to do so, Demetre expels the Jews from the realm. This is an all hands on deck situation, and it is better that a few should suffer than many.
The old strategy of mercenaries and levies still applies.
Demetre feels the sting of the loss of so many gifted men.
With one army ground into exhaustion, Demetre must hire another army of mercenaries to fight the Horde.
Once more he goes into the fray.
And once more he triumphs.
Khutula enforces his claim on Afghanistan and becomes the most powerful man in the Middle East. Everything the Caliph has attempted, he has succeeded in. He is the most dangerous man in the world, as far as Georgia is concerned.
The Horde weakened by civil war, Demetre spends his newly gained funds on another war.
In preparations for future conflicts, he betroths his daughter to the king of Rus. When the two Orthodox powers are united, the Horde can only cower in fear.
Demetre, of course, always has money for the church.
His army marches toward one of the main hordes.
While the battle is rather one sided, it is only one of many to come.
But the long years of war have taken a toll on Demetre's body and the stress is getting to him.
Not only that, but he contracts leprosy as well.
He dies shortly after, leaving his daughter Natia to finish his war.
Next Time: The Warrior Queen