Part 33: 1460-1479, Lost Ground.

We gain a core on Kano, but have bigger problems, our manpower has hit near zero, so we will be relying on mercenaries for now. We form one large army and march forwards once more.



We smash two smaller armies, then march to relieve Rashid.



We lose the battle, and the Abbasids move up behind us and rout our army! This is terrible news!



Our technology advances, we also learn improved harbours.







With no army left, we are forced to sign peace treaties conceding land! At least the farmers are doing well and we can increase our manpower reserves.



We soon improve our weapons. This war has taught us our new armies are no where near as numerous as our old ones. Better training and equipment is needed.



A new army is raised, but it cannot match the enemy yet.







People begin to mutter – Umar brought this disastrous war on us, he is the one who sought to make his name greater than his fathers. He is only in this for his own personal gain. Umar shrugs, and continues to try and marshal his forces.



The war is not going well, even he must admit that.



The army cannot stand against the Abbasids, this battle started with us having a three to one advantage in men, and even with us killing two to one, we still lost!







The peace, when it comes, is humiliating.



We lose almost all of Egypt and the rich provinces therein.



Umar knows he needs to perform a huge amount of reforms before we strike back. He starts with the economy.



We also have a rebel problem in the now unreachable lands.



Next up, we send the colonist into Sierra Leone, but not before the army marches in to deal with the murderous natives first. We then pay off a war lone and reduce inflation before the main program begins.



We also try and smooth over relations with our neighbours. While we are defiantly going to kill all the Abbasids, we need time to rebuild the army first!



We also hire a new advisor to help keep inflation in check – apparently we produce to much gold! Who would ever have thought that would be a problem!



Meanwhile, the army needs to put down the upperty minorities that seem to think that Ghana is collapsing.



Next we improve our trade.



Meanwhile, we continue to put down revolts.







We begin to rebuild the army, and any spare money is thrown at armouries - these give us more men and cheaper regiments. A thing we need now.



We also accept our mission is now to rebuild the army.







Years pass as we slowly rebuild. We have to replace some of our advisor’s as age takes their predecessors.



We also continue our technological advances.







The Andalucians finally get their act together and begin to expand. We of course join their war against the remaining Muslims in the west.



We land troops on Mallorca to try and repair the damage to our military reputation. The war ends before we can make any military gains, but is has been a useful exercise.



There is still trouble amongst the people though, as this push for military power angers them.



We execute some, send more down to Sierra Leone and continue to improve the army.







We finally rebuild the army to a decent state. 42,000 men are now under arms.







We come close to the largest army we can support – over fifty thousand men, most of them in the border region. All know the war is coming soon. A few more years should see our manpower recovered to the point we can wage war. Umar begins to save a war chest.



Casting an eye over Iberia shows us that Castile has been devoured by Andalusia and Portugal.



The last piece falls into place with the development of the spitting snake – or “cannon” as the Europeans call it. The Snakes are a new technology that will allow Ghanans to rain death upon their mortal enemies.



We also continue to improve the bureaucracy.



The generals set their minds to war.



We also see more interesting people at court.







As we head towards war, our greatest General dies.



Ghana readies herself for another major war. Let us see how we fair this time. Our military technology level is 7, the Abbasids 5. They have 53,000 men, we have 54,000. they have a manpower reserve of 10,000 men, we have 15,000.



It is time to retake Egypt!

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