Surprisingly, Karma Wangdak is elected, becoming the first Oceanic Prince-Emperor in almost 60 years.
As much as he'd like to immediately begin the construction of new ships, the Bank urges him to first pay back the loan taken due to surprising expenses during the war. That delays his pet project – and basically only promise – quite a bit, but the work is still started before the end of the year. Dacca and Chittagong's shipyards are truly busy for the first time in decades, and Howrab joins in too as its large-scale integration project is finally finished.
The Ministry of Enlightenment has been hard at work, surveying the land and approaching the common people to learn more about their culture and traditions. Many of these fascinating practices are integrated into local laws to allow and even encourage them. Some of these laws are very odd, and nobles from said areas try to tell this to the Ministry, but they decline to change any of them. If the people want the right to bathe their elephants in the middle of the governor's court, so be it.
A political issue poses itself to Wangdak in March 1614 when Pegu declares a war of conquest against Shan. However, Shan is allied with Ayutthaya, Dai Viet and Oirat, the two former of which have good relations with Tibet and outnumber her too. Weighing two important alliances against a single second-thought one isn't that hard; Wangdak declines to join the war. Pegu is on its own, and very likely to lose. In fact, he decides to join the defenders' side instead, though he doesn't intend to be a very active participant.
Even though the nation has an Oceanic ruler for the first time in decades, many feel he hasn't done enough to improve the traders' position. Desi Sregs, a particularly prominent merchant responsible for overview of Tibet's assets in the Bengal area, is angered by one final ”betrayal” against him and completely refuses to do his work. His position is vital, though, so Wangdak tries his best to negotiate with him... but he seems very stubborn.
Preachers have been hard at work in Arunachal, the conspicuous colony of the Shinto faith, but the situation in the province has become the subject of much debate regarding the Ministry's policies and some testy nobles are demanding them to back up their decisions, just in order to annoy them. In the end, the Ministry itself ends up actively undermining the preachers' efforts in the area. The frustrated Wangdak decides to just dispatch the preachers to other heathen regions for a while.
In the South, Pegu is clearly losing its war, as expected. The weak but opportunistic Kingdom of Lan Na decides to join the feast as well.
The naval project is finished in 1615. A total of 10 new ships have been constructed, 9 of which are "caravels", improved versions of the older model, and the last one is a massive ”carrack”, armed with dozens of great cannons and named "Karma" both as a tribute to the Prince-Emperor and a promise of vengeance upon Tibet's enemies. It is the first proper flagship of the Golden Lion Fleet. All willing men from the old crews are allowed to transfer to the new ships to make them less bitter about their old vessels being somewhat outdated, but many decide to stay out of loyalty. The glorious Fleet is sent to terrorize the coast of India and disrupt Tibet's enemies' trade there.
In January 1616, history repeats itself yet again as the Timurids declare war. This time might be somewhat more difficult though, as Tibet only has one preoccupied ally while the Timurids are joined by Malwa.
General Tashi is ordered to mobilize the Tibetan army stationed in Oudh and move into defensive positions in the western mountains until more orders arrive. Meanwhile, Pegu's war effort ends in defeat and their last one is nullified as well.
Prince-Emperor Wangdak, quite a skilled general himself, decides to take over command of the army. The first battle of the war, fought in Oudh to drive out a join force of Timurid and Malwani occupiers, is a hard-won victory.
Even in the middle of all this, rebels from Orissa seek Wangdak out to ask for support in their efforts against the government. However, being in a state of war, he refuses them any monetary support. They distract him long enough for a new Timurid force to attack, though. They are driven off, but just barely. It's a matter of luck that the enemy routs
The Timurid army, aided by vast lines of artillery, manages to break through Mathura's walls and take the city in October, but they then leave the area to regroup in their own territory, allowing Wangdak to march right in and reclaim the barely-defended city.
While retreating, the Timurids meet with Dai Viet's army, who put up a good fight but are forced to retreat.
Tibet sees success in some small skirmishes, but the greatest battle of the war so far is fought in the defense of Delhi. In a huge assault involving a total of over 100 thousand men, the enemy finally manages to break through Wangdak's steadfast defenses. He is forced to retreat back east.
The enemy spreads out to occupy the Delhian area.
Clearly masters of appropriate timing, the Ministry of Enlightenment considers this a good opportunity to reveal their latest reform. The Tibetans
really have stopped caring about the Timurids. By continuing their efforts towards the removal of religious bias, and actively setting up groups to discuss the differences and similarities between Buddhism's various sects and related religions, the heretic population (currently only notable in Arunachal) shall be pacified considerably and mutual understanding improved. There is no doubt that the scandal in the Assamese region is the main reason behind these new ideas.
After regrouping in Gauda, Wangdak moves into Gharwal, the site of many historical battles, and braces himself for an enemy horde on the way. However, due to some communication problems among the enemies, only a much smaller army than expected reaches him and is easily humiliated.
In less pleasant news, both Delhi and Mathura have fallen.
Months of small skirmishes and meaningless maneuvering follow. However, the Timurids seem truly horribly bad at organization and logistics, making stumbles both literal and metaphorical while trying to move their huge armies around. Starvation and treacherous terrain alone cost them
tens of thousands of troops. In fact, this attrition and humiliation alone are enough to make them agree to pay Tibet just to get it over with. The peace is signed in February 1619, after just over three years of war.
As much as he'd like to give the troops their well-earned rest, Wangdak realizes Kachar is utterly defenseless and their truce with Tibet over. He invades their only province Naga.
Vijayanagar declares another war on Ceylon, their fourth to be exact. Though this holds little practical interest for Tibet, people are eager to hear any news just to laugh at the so-called empire's pathetic failures.
That whole Shinto thing in Arunachal? Yeah, it turned out to have been just a fad. Once people recognized the silliness of the religion and got tired of doing it just as a means of protest, the situation in the area has stabilized and most of the former ”converts” have returned to their old faith. The Ministry of Enlightenment is relieved to see such a peaceful end to the disagreement and eager to use it as proof of their policies' success.
The troops are just about to take over Kachar's capital Dimapur when Wangdak is called back to Lhasa for the election.
Prince-Emperor Karma Wangdak lists many different situations – most of them formerly secret, and some probably fictional – where he has put the Republic's interest before his own. Besides, he personally led the army to another victory against the Timurids and outsmarted the Khan himself, only to then conquer yet another small nation. The recent wars in the South – including Tibet's own – have broken many of the alliances in the area, and Orissa is once again a very easy target. The new Fleet would get a chance to prove their worth, too.
Gyurme Gampo of the Heaven Electorate questions the so-called ”Diplomat” Wangdak's aggressive policies. Tibet has seen nary a decade without war; achieving one would be a laudable goal in itself. It would also allow Tibet to focus on further strengthening its defenses and booming industry against the inevitable counterattack, as well as funding the Ministry of Enlightenment's efforts. Just look at how well they handled Arunachal!
Palden Tashi of the Ocean Electorate represents the portion of the merchant class frustrated by their former party member's lack of real effort to protect their interests. If he were elected, he'd focus on improving the trade infrastructure of all of Tibet, not just the areas deemed ”cost-effective” by the former rulers. It is more than worth it in the long term.
Sakya Thekchen of the Earth Electorate raises an oft-repeated subject onto the table: the joint war against Shan through Oirat. It has been discussed in many past elections, yet no Prince-Emperor has ever bothered actually going through with it, regardless of the great potential benefit. It's a miracle the plan has stayed secret from the enemy for this long – if it has at all – and it's about time to seize the day.
Re: Europa Universalis IV - After Action Report: Tibet
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