I am very glad to see this back! 
And not only did you become an emperor, but you got the Pope as a vassal! Good work.
And not only did you become an emperor, but you got the Pope as a vassal! Good work.- 2
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Oh my, an Empire in the West? The Franks can't be too happy can they? I'm sure they have imperial ambitions of their own, meanwhile to the South the Eastern Romans still have substantial holdings. Seems like a confrontation between the Lombards and its two large neighbors is inevitable if the Alachislings are to claim the legacy of Rome.
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Thank you!I am very glad to see this back!
I'm sure they're not too thrilled about it. However, the Franks are also divided at this point, which gives the Alachislings the ability to try playing them against one another. Do that successfully, and the Franks may find themselves as no longer being a dominant power in the West...
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Nice to see this back, and congratulations on all the big life events!
The Lombards are doing quite well, and I'll be curious where they turn next with Italy almost all secured.
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I'm sure the Emperor has some idea. After all, there are plenty of areas he can go. Work on conquering Spain, vassalize the Franks/French and Germans, expand into the pagan kingdoms to the east, go south into Africa. So many options.
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Chapter 9
Chapter 9: 1 January 849 – 1 January 859
On 26 February 849, Emperor Alboin moved to conquer the remainder of Corsica. The Duchess of Sardinia responded with an invasion of Genoa, which quickly resulted in a loss for the Sardinians as they fell to the retinue of Emperor Alboin. Meanwhile, the Lombard army arrived in Cinarca, laying it to siege. Seeing a potential for a successful revolt, Lollards rose up in Perugia, seeking to claim their independence on 1 October 849. Emperor Alboin chose to ignore them until after the Sardinians were decisively defeated. In April 850, Cinarca was totally under the occupation of the Lombards, who moved on to siege the rest of the Duchess’ territory. However, forces intervened as Spoletan Lollards moved to reinforce the Lollard uprising. Emperor Alboin ordered his army to diverge from their Sardinian campaign to handle the rebels, and they captured the leader of the Spoletan revolt on 5 October 850 and destroyed the remainder of the Lollards. So on this day, the Lollard leaders were executed, and the Duchess of Sardinia, realizing her position was hopeless, surrendered Cinarca to the Iron Empire.
Campaigns of Cinarca and Lollard Revolts
On 1 January 851, Emperor Alboin declared war on the Umayyad Caliphate, seeking to take advantage of their ongoing war with Franks, whom had been united under King Karl. On 1 March, another revolt was declared in Spoleto against the Iron Empire. Emperor Alboin sent his retinue to deal with the traitors, while his vast army rallied in Nice. On 1 June, the Spoletan revolt was ended, its leader executed, and the 14,000 men of the Iron Empire had assembled, and marched to Spain. On 24 January 851, The Umayyad Badshah surrendered, and the Duchy of Aragon was claimed by the Iron Empire.
On 25 January 851, Emperor Alboin declared war on the Count of Gallura, marking the first incursion of Lombards on Sardinian soil. While the Emperor’s retinue was busy fighting for this small Sardinian county, High Chief Sebibor of Carantania declared war for Chreina. The Emperor called for his armies to meet in Pavia. On 9 November 853, Gallura capitulated, and became part of the Iron Empire. The Emperor’s brother, meanwhile, marched to Chreina, freeing it from the occupation of the Carentanians, and then marched north to Villach to meet High Chief Sebibor, the so-called “undefeated”. With the Lombard army being over 11,000 men strong, and High Chief Sebibor having less than 4,000, the High Chief retreated to his last remaining county. But this would not help long. Prince Adelchis marched to Breze soon after arriving in Villach, chasing the Empire’s enemy to his own doorstep. In the battle that followed, the High Chief’s army was soundly defeated, and he himself was captured. The Lombards won yet another war.
War against "the Undefeated"
On 1 January 856, Emperor Alboin again called his lords to do battle, this time with the Byzantine Emperor, for the purposes of securing mainland Italy entirely from Lombard enemies. The war initially went well, until the Byzanines dispatched a 20,000 man army to fight the 14,000 Lombards at Lecce. While the war was not decided through the loss of a single battle, with the Lombards managing to avoid total defeat and some reversals, this war was one of the most difficult that the Emperor had chosen to fight. Finally, the Iron Emperor was forced to concede that his bid for Calabria had failed. He sued for a white peace, avoiding a surrender, and returned home to Pavia with his retinue, now depleted to some 200 of his original over 6,000 men.
Beginning of the Byzantine Campaign
Chapter 10
Chapter 10: 1 January 859 – 1 January 869
The Emperor’s loss led to yet another revolt, which the Emperor was still strong enough to defeat. However, his loss hurt his standing among his lords, and several lords began plotting against him, especially in order to achieve more power in the Empire by elevating the Imperial Council. Emperor Alboin wished to avoid this, and so he began to make several strategic moves, the most important one being to betroth his daughter and heir Princess Gemma to his cousin’s son Rodolf Alachisling. This bought him some time, but Emperor Alboin knew he would need to recover his standing through another war, and that this time, it would have to be successful.
On 1 June 861, Emperor Alboin again moved in Sardinia, claiming the county of Ogliastra as his own. On 14 December 861, the Count recognized Emperor Alboin as his liege, following the successful siege of the county by the Emperor’s retinue. Although a small war, the effect on the prestige of the Emperor were keenly felt as being on the rise. On the same day, Emperor Alboin declared war again on the Umayyads, this time hoping to claim Navarra before the Franks did. He summoned his armies and ordered them to gather in Barcelona. On 10 September 863, the Umayyads gave him the provinces of Viscaya and Najera, but not Navarra, as that was held by the Franks. Emperor Alboin realized that his next enemy, may very well be them. So, on 18 September 864, following the Franks peace with the Umayyads which gave them Navarra, Emperor Alboin declared war on the Franks.
The war against the Franks was costly and, like the Byzantines, was a roller coaster of events that resulted in a Lombard victory, then a Frankish one, and then a Lombard one and so on. However, by the 868, the Frank kingdom was well and finally defeated, and was forced to give up on its lands in Navarra. Factions briefly formed in the Iron Empire, but were quickly dispersed on the return of the triumphant Emperor. The Emperor managed to return to Pavia by the 1st of January 869, marking 100 years since the beginning of the ascension of the Lombards to a higher place of power than they had ever achieved before. And, thought Emperor Alboin, it was just beginning.
The Iron Empire as of 1 January 869
Sorry guys, I know this one was a little short, mostly because of the micromanaging I was doing in the war with the Franks, and with very little else happening. I suppose I'm grateful that nothing else was going on, because the Franks were still very much difficult to defeat since they've been reunited under their new king. The Byzantine defeat (technically a white peace, but I view it as a defeat) really sent me into a bad mood and so I was very determined to not lose again.
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Ouch, tremendous losses, albeit softened a bit by the conquests in Iberia, Corsica, and Sardinia.
I wonder if the loss of good Lombard men was worth the lands of Navarra. Was the war there to block further Frankish expansion into Spain from the North? Their holdings in Valencia may yet give them another avenue to expand there, and with the Balearic Islands under Byzantine control it seems like the Western Mediterranean might be in for a few more wars between these 3 powers.
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The loss in the war with the Byzantines was really disheartening, I didn't believe they would be able to respond as effectively as they did. Early successes were not enough for me to force an early conclusion, and one they found peace with their Anatolian enemies, their full might was focused on me.
The idea for the conquest of Navarre was to block expansion from the north yes, although as you said, this doesn't solve the problem of Frankish expansion. Still, better that than let the Franks run into Spain unchecked, where they can become an even greater threat than they already are. I'm just hoping that the Frankish king dies with multiple heirs so their realm fractures again. But in the meantime, containment is the best policy for the Franks. There will be quite a few more wars to come.
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