1509
My first official act as Minister of War and Other Stuff is to respond to the rebel capture of Tunisia. The army attempting to take out the rebels there is beaten, and retreats to Kabylia. I order the Aures Regiment to leave its post and move to rendezvous with the Romagna Regiment and authorize the recruitment of 2000 more halberdiers in Tunis.
In April, our efforts to remove the stain of rebellion from North Africa fail. Tripolitania and Tunisia, both controlled by rebels, band together to reform the Hafsid Empire. On the same day, the engineer in command of our military research, Quinteri Corleone of Messina, "Q" for short, sends me a letter explaining the detailed maneuvers of artillery support. Even though we have no artillery in the entire army, I decide that this is as good a time as any to take command of the army personally.
When called upon, our allies perform miserably. All of them leave us, but this gives us the opportunity to create a new Spanish, Tuscan, Genoese, Hungarian, and Bohemian Alliance. Austria is left on its lonesome, not wanting to be the first to join an alliance with a "loser Italian country." This insult was overheard by our ambassador while he was listening at the keyhole of the Austrian Council meeting to decide whether or not to rejoin [random event- diplomatic insult]. We will have to show them their place.......
On April 6th, my ship arrives in Kabylia, and I take command of the army there. Our scouts report that the only Hafsid army of one thousand men is already on its way to Kabylia, and I decide that it is the wisest choice to stay put and prepare for battle.
5 days later, an emissary from Georgia arrives in the presence of the doge. He offers the hand of the crown princess of Georgia in marriage to the Doge's brother, the fourth duke of Luca. We accept, although the ambassador rejects our proposal to join the Tuscan Alliance. On the same day, we notice that our fleet in Tunisia had been driven out of port by the Hafsid Scum. The commodore in charge is ordered to make for Port Kabylia.
On May 1st, the garrison inside the city of Messina reports seeing 11,000 rebels rising up against the 4,000 Turkish troops in Sicily. Still bitter about the Turkish capture of the province, the Doge welcomes the Turk's misfortune with open arms.
The next day, the much-expected Hafsid army arrives in Kabylia, and is slaughtered to a man by the 6th. Then the army and I march on Tunisia. We also raise two thousand recruits in Messina. If the Sicilian rebels form their own independent nation, Piero hopes to conquer it before the Turk can land reinforcements to retake it.
The Grand Army lays siege to Tunisia on June 9, and the city surrenders one month later. Slightly late, reinforcements arrive from the mainland, nearly doubling the size of the Grand Army, but leaving Italy undefended. If we can wrap up this war, I plan to leave a small force to handle any rebellions, and transport the rest of the Grand Army back to Italy.
On July 11th, a group of disgruntled citizens in the capital approach the Doge.They say that unless something is done, they will revolt against the Tuscan government. Ever-resourceful, Piero offers them the offer to go overseas and start their own colony to govern as they like, as long as it stays in Tuscan possession. They accept, and a party of one hundred of them is sent to a little-known area on the coast of northwest Africa named Dakar, which was discovered through the swapping of maps with Spain, Portugal, and England.
On August 13th, the Grand Army arrives in Tripolitania and settles in for the siege. Aiding the siege in an indirect way are Q's new metal cannonballs. Because of the lack of cannon, these are being fired from mangonels, but they are still quite effective against the enemy fortifications.
In late September, a strangely-clad Persian ambassador appears in Florence, offering to exchange maps.The proposition of discovering what lies east of Persia is tempting, Piero and I agree that it is best to not let them know about the New World for now... perhaps later....
On October 16th, after an assault of the fortress of Tripoli, Tripolitania is ours. We quickly inform Sultan Mohammed V that his nation is once again part of Tuscany, and he is thrown in the dungeon once again.
On the 1st of November, a letter is given to me from Doge Piero. He has rewarded my efforts in subjugating the Hafsids and otherwise increasing the efficiency of the nation by giving me a promotion and a large plot of land in Luca. My full title now is Count Morpheus of Luca, Tuscan Minister of War and Other Stuff and Commander of the Tuscan Grand Army.
1510
On February 1st, the Persian ambassador reappears in Florence, with the same offer as before. This time we accept, and gain much knowledge of India and the Steppes, including a nation named Sibir, which seems oddly familiar...
In mid-March, the hundred disgruntled Tuscans that were sent to Dakar were reported missing. They just never arrived! Another hundred, determined to succeed where their predecessors failed, take ship for their potential colony.
On September 11th, 1510, the colonists arrive in Dakar and start the foundations of a great city, and 100 more head straight there.
On November 9th, the Sicilian rebels take the fortress in Sicily. The small (14K) army in Messina braces itself in case the rebels decide to try for the whole island.....
1511
On January 8th, two things happen. First, the colony in Dakar expands. Second, the rebels in Sicily have finally turned on Messina. The Messina Garrison, now 19K and rising, clears an area in which to do battle and begins to wait.
On January 29th, the rebels attack the Messina Garrison. During the battle, an event that has not been seen in Tuscany since the Hafsid rebellions occurs: Romagna revolts. The gathering Emilia Garrison prepares to meet the 7000 rebels' challenge.
On March 15th, the Romagnan rebels are utterly destroyed, and Tuscany is washed clean of the stain of rebellion.
On the fourth of May, a drastic ripple of unconformity sweeps the globe. A german named Martin Luther has renounced the Church and started his own branch of Christianity, called Lutheranism or Protestantism. The Doge sees wisdom in his words, and tells me that the Tuscan Empire may well embrace this theology in time...