Part 36: 1520-1539, Damned Italians!

The time has come to absorb the protectorates. They have had a century of Ogoonu protection, but now they must realise that they are Africans, and therefore part of Ghana. We cancel there protectorates and begin to fabricate claims on their lands.



The Grain Coast natives know which way the wind is blowing.



The Abyssinians expand south, but their targets are not giving up without a fight, and we of course give them leave to enter our lands.







We break our royal ties with the Ashanti, then they do us the favour of cancelling military access rights. The war begins.



Sidabe takes ill during this time, and the other Ogoonu step up to help the Empress rule.







The Ashanti cannot hold for long.



Our troops then march on Oyo.



Meanwhile we develop more trust in our navy.



Then add more land to the Empire.







In Aquataine, now a small one province minor power sandwiched between Gascoigne and France, a new form of belief arrives. The government quickly changes to support this religion, and Protestantism begins.



There are many religions, but only one true well snake.



We ourselves concentrate on advancements.







Italy finally makes a move against Sicily. We move to protect our Ogoonu cousins in Europe.



Our immediate problem becomes clear. The Navy is no match for Italy’s – they are outnumbered over three to one, although 14 of those ships are galleys, and 22 transports, we have have eight transports in our fleet. Giving them an advantage in modern ships we cannot match.







With no way to cross the Mediterranean, we are forced to leave Sicily to its fate. At least the Grain Coast is now self sufficient. The Ivory Coast is our new colony.



We also receive the news that Sidabe has finally died after a long illness. Cisse I is the new Emperor.



Sicily is conquered, and Italian troops arrive in Andalusia. We still cannot do anything to help. Five new carracks have been ordered, but they take a year to build, so will most likely not be able to do much to help.





The Italians land in Tunis, the army there is scattered and flees. But at least we have a new heir, abeat a terrible one.



The Andalucians bow out of the war, being forced to break all treaties with us – this leaves them ripe for invasion by the Christians!



We reform and attack with force!



The Emperor himself leads the armies, and we have overwhelming numbers.



The Italians, with the military tech of 11 to our nine have far better troops, and even with a two to one advantage, we are defeated!







Tunis falls.



We try to defeat the Italians again, but are defeated.







A year to the day that Tunis falls, Cissie is killed in battle.



A number of revolts break out in Egypt, but we cannot do anything about it as the Italians will not accept a peace treaty.



We hire every mercenary we can, and strike the Italians.








The Italian plan becomes clear, they have been working on the Pope while rejecting out peace treaties. They have turned this into a Crusade, the first to target us!



They follow this with another crushing defeat. This army, all but two thousand of our men, is then hunted down and destroyed.



The peace treaty follows, they take most of Sicily, and force us to return most of our holdings in the east to Abyssinia. The Shame! Snakes shrivel across the realm! Grown men are unable to sire their tenth child in embarrassment!







We rebuild a small army and go rebel hunting, we have a lot of work to do to rebuild the country.



People begin to think that the best thing to do is leave the Empire and escape to the colonies. They are fools. The colonies are connected to the Empire.



We begin to focus on building – building better armies, building more improvements and building more colonies.



The deficiency of the navy has been noted, and we begin to address it.







The years flow like a river. We begin to colonise the gold cost, and get grain from the Ivory coast (odd name, but “Even More Grain Coast” would sound stupid). We also fight to rebuild the army.



We are unable to reach some of the rebelling lands, and they break away and form Ethiopia. We are told we are at war with them. As we cannot send soldiers to teach them they are wrong, we are forced to sign a white peace and accept the situation.







Ghana has had a bad time during the regency, but still remains mostly intact. Kukarury is 12 now, so only a few years left.



It could be worse, we could be having the religious upheaval the Christians are having.