An anecdote loosely based off of a game i had in Civ 4. How Japan conquered half of the world.
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Japan was at the top amongst the most advanced and strongest civilization. For centuries, the Tokugawa Shogunate had led Japan to prosper and thrive in the once unmarked territory. Since the Medieval Era, Japan has been constantly upgrading its defences, experimenting on new technology and expanding their borders widely. They were the first to research future tech, and conquered South of the island they reside on. By the time it was the Industrialized Era, they were one of the firsts to be able to train the infantry. Most other civilizations were still stuck at musketmens or riflemen.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was not a patient man. At least, not at that moment. Kagoshima was found, with Edo and Osaka following suit. But the Mongolians, or at least, Genghis Khan sent a bunch of settlers to find Ning-hsia just above Satsuma. Tokugawa downed more of his sakè. Victoria of England had decided to settle her capital not too far North of Kagoshima. And then there was Peter. Him and his Russians decided to settle Northeast of Tokyo, next to the ocean. On the bright side, Alexander was way further up North, almost at the border of the world. At least he wasn't too close. Montezuma, Hatshepsut, Saladin and Caesar were all on another, larger island across the ocean to the East.
Tokugawa looked at the world map. Ning-hsia was the only Mongolian city accessible currently, as Karakorum and 2 other cities were blocked by a mountain, an inaccessible area to troops, which is also only one tile long and the only reason (by technicality) that the Mongolians were in the same island. So far, Ning-hsia was very poorly defended, with only 2 units of axemen and one unit of archers. Deciding it was worth the trouble, Shogun Tokugawa ordered the invasion of Ning-hsia. A few units of samurais and longbowmen did the job. Ning-hsia was captured and now exists as a Japanese city. It was then Tokugawa saw the city of Old Sarai located East of Kagoshima. It would be inconvenient to leave it as it was. The Mongolians would have access to the wheat and horses found a few hexes away from it. He ordered his troops to seize it, and with a few samurai units deployed, Old Sarai fell to the Japanese.
Of course, Genghis Khan was enraged. However, when he and Tokugawa met for a discussion, they decided to end the pointless violence. Tokugawa having accomplished his objective, and Genghis as he decided to cut his loses. The conflict was resolved in a peaceful, civilized manner.
It was during the modern era that Victoria came to Japan with a trade offer. One unit of England's corn for Japan's one unit of horses. Not a bad deal right? Oh if only England's cities weren't so close to Japan's, maybe that could work. Oxford was too close to Old Sarai. There have been reports of tension due to the close borders. Japan's military strength was superior to that of England at that moment. While Japan just got the technology to train gunships and infantries, England was still training riflemen. Much like what he did to the Mongolians, he declared war on England and commanded his troops to seize Oxford, Newcastle, Nottingham, and a few other cities on the island. Eventually, England was left with only 2 cities, Liverpool and York. Liverpool was located on an island West of Satsuma. Yorkshire was technically still on the main island, but Tokugawa's troops would have to travel by boat to reach it and frankly, he could not be bothered to. The alternative was to pass through Russian territory, but his relations with Peter weren't exactly the greatest since he nuked one of Victoria's cities... and made an arrogant demand... and declared war on Mongolia... you get the idea. Tokugawa decided to cease fire, but not before forcing Victoria to hand him over her gold as compensation. Victoria, who was cornered, had no choice but to agree. With the English cities captured and belonging to Japan, Tokugawa practically controls one-third of the island. Of course, the Greeks were up North, Russians to the East and Mongolians to the West. Tokugawa plans to own the entire island. Soon, but for now, boosting the economy would probably be the best option.
Japan was caught off guard. The leader of Egypt, Hatshepsut, created a city at the edge of the island, South of Kagoshima. Tokugawa didn't bother setting up a city there, thinking that the border would expand all the way. Oh how wrong he was. Hatshepsut set up her city on the very edge of the island. As such, a very small part of the island belonged to the Egyptians. Not a big problem, really. Just that, it was inconvenient for Tokugawa. Furthermore, Hatshepsut was the only other leader who liked him. Clearly, Genghis Khan would be furious at him for declaring war over and over again, only to fail at taking over his cities. Victoria, having been reduced to only 2 cities, was annoyed at him. Alexander and Peter didn't trust him, and Montezuma was annoyed that Japan refused to pay them tribute. As for Saladin and Caesar, they just don't interact much. Besides, Hatshepsut might become a useful ally, so Tokugawa didn't attempt to seize the city.
Oh how badly Tokugawa wanted to destroy the English civilization. Victoria was furious, several times she demanded Tokugawa to give her cities back. Of course, she did it through diplomatic methods. England did not have the military power capable to overpower Japan. She tried different methods, denouncing Tokugawa, bribing him, and even trying to trade it without any compensation for Japan. Of course, she backed out once she feels threatened, but Tokugawa had enough of it. After preparing the vassals and troops, he declared war on her, and swiftly claimed Liverpool and York. The English civilization was destroyed.
He contemplated on attacking the Greeks next. Alexander's city of Sparta and Warwick were too close to the borders of the once-English cities that Japan had conquered. Alexander was much more powerful than Victoria. Tokugawa would have to carefully plan his method of attack. SAM infantries and artilleries were trained and stationed near Sparta. After deciding there were enough troops, Tokugawa declared war on Alexander. What he didn't take into account was that somehow, Genghis Khan was also brought into the war. It was then Tokugawa realised that the Mongolians and Greeks had a defensive pact. He quickly commanded a few battleships and destroyers to be trained to counter the Mongolian warships that would be coming from the West. As there was no sign of Mongolian troops, Tokugawa focused most of his troops on conquering Sparta. It took awhile, but Sparta was finally conquered by Japan. A few times during The World Congress, Alexander openly stated his desire of impaling Tokugawa, but did not make any attempt to do so as he knew they were both immortal. All the civilization leaders were. So he decided to make the more civilized way of handling things. A peace treaty. As for Tokugawa, he was starting to get paranoid about the Mongolians, so he accepted the peace treaty. So far, only one Mongolian battleship was seen. It was, however, promptly dealt with. Apart from that, there were no other signs of the Mongolians attacking. Tokugawa wondered if it was because Genghis didn't care, or if he did not have the military power to do so.
Several times, he declared war on Alexander. Each time after claiming a Greek city, Tokugawa would immediately send troops to defend it from the Greek army who would attempt to reclaim it. They managed to take back Warwick, but the amount of modern armours and mechanized infantries that were sent by Tokugawa overwhelmed the Greek troops defending it, so Warwick was once again in the grasp of the Japanese empire. Each time Tokugawa declared war on Alexander, Genghis Khan would also be waging a war against him. However, Mongolian troops were almost never seen, it disturbed Tokugawa more than it should have.
Mongolia was deemed a threat. Tokugawa would not know what Genghis Khan was plotting. Greeks, or no Greeks, Tokugawa finally decided to conquer the small, isolated part of the island, dominated by Genghis Khan and his fellow Mongolians. After sending some troops on both land and sea to defend from the Greeks, Tokugawa finally put his plan into and carriers were required for it. He stationed them on the beachside just beside the mountain separating the Mongolians and the Japanese. After loading an obscene amount of troops in, he declared war on Genghis Khan. Beshbalik was first to fall. It was the closest to the mountain, not heavily defended, making it Japan's first target. At this point, Tokugawa managed to convince Alexander to cease fire, despite the defensive pact he made with Genghis. Turfan was next to fall. Units of mechanized infantry and modern armour were sent to seize it. Some troops of SAM infantry and marines were left in Beshbalik to defend it. However, it wasn't enough. The Mongolians managed to reclaim Beshbalik, but Japan took it back. Tokugawa swiftly decided to send a peace treaty over to Genghis Khan. Luckily, Genghis agreed, and both civilizations remained in peace for the next few years.
Japan spent the next few years building up the defences of most of the newly conquered cities from Mongolia and Greece. Tokugawa reinforced the defences, especially that of Warwick and Sparta. It was proven that Alexander had tried to go after Warwick again. Sparta, being very close to the border, was naturally defended more heavily too. Tokugawa also ordered the cities to build up the commercial buildings. Bunkers and bomb shelters were made too just in case. With the evolution of technology, airports were made. This allowed troops to be airlifted from one city to another. This was proved very useful when airlifting troops to Beshbalik and Turfan. Japan troops had no way of sending more infantries and gunships to defend it as they would have to pass through Mongolian borders. When Tokugawa asked Genghis to open his borders to the Japanese, Genghis declined, and nearly slugged Tokugawa on the head if he didn't see Tokugawa preparing to draw his katana from its sheath. At least now he had no need for an open borders agreement.
Tokugawa decided that he had stationed enough troops in Beshbalik and Turfan. Not to mention, modern armours and mechanized infantries were also readily stationed in cities closest to Greece, so if Alexander decided to attack, Japan would be ready for it. Tokugawa declared another war on Genghis Khan, intent on conquering the Mongolian capital, Karakorum, for Japan. Mechanized infantries and modern armours were deployed. Jet fighters and stealth bombers were deployed to reduce the defences, and to weaken the opponents. Of course, the Mongolians put up a fight, but eventually they lost Karakorum. Having lost their last remaining city, the Mongolian Civilization was destroyed.
With the fall of the English empire, Japan's borders started to get too close to the Russians. Fortunately for Tokugawa, he had been training more troops over the years. It did not take long to deploy the troops near Russian borders, declare war on Peter, and ordered the invasion of Russia. Japan troops seized Krasnoyarsk first, it being the city closest to the border. Novgorod was next to fall. Modern armours and mechanized infantries were stationed at both cities to be defended from the Russian troops trying to reclaim the two cities. Fortunately, Peter was willing to cease fire with Japan. Thus marked another few war declarations by Tokugawa to seize one or two cities at a time before a period of peace. Then another war. This time, Tokugawa ordered his troops to capture Orenburg and Vladivostok before agreeing to ceasefire. It benefitted both Peter and Tokugawa. However, the peace did not last as Tokugawa declared war on Peter again, his mind set on conquering Yakutsk, Smolensk, and Yekaterinburg.
Tokugawa successfully conquered Yakutsk and Smolensk. He did not waste time building up the defences of the two newly acquired cities. He stationed gunships and mechanized infantries to guard the cities. Yekaterinburg turned out to be too close to Moscow, so he chose not to invade it just yet. While Smolensk was easily conquered, he lost a substantial amount of troops during the invasion of Yakutsk. Apparently Peter decided to station most of his troops there. Not to mention, some of the troops have to remain in both cities to protect it from the Russians. Tokugawa ordered a ceasefire with Peter. Japan suffered enough from the war, and it would take a few years to build more defences and train more troops to start capturing the remaining 3 Russian cities.
More and more troops were stationed to defend the newly conquered Russian cities. Tokugawa also made sure to deploy troops to stay within Japan's borders to prepare the invasion of the remaining Russian cities. The process was much faster with the newer cities' development of the airport. It saved an incredible amount of time by airlifting the troops. He also repositioned the stealth bombers and jet fighters to Yakutsk. It was closest to St. Petersburg, Tokugawa's next target. It was safe to say that Peter might have problems. After a reconnaissance mission by a jet fighter, it seemed that Russia was unable to train troops fast enough. Also, it was during that time period, Tokugawa demanded Alexander to pay him an outrageous amount of gold as tribute. Tokugawa could only grin as Alexander begrudgingly agreed to his unreasonable demands.
After a while, Tokugawa deemed the cities well defended to withstand another war. The troops he had waiting for the command were getting restless. The Russians would have no way of countering their troops. Tokugawa ordered his army to seize St. Petersburg first. With the accumulated amount of troops, St. Petersburg eventually fell to the Japanese. Russia was reduced to its last two cities, Moscow and Yekaterinburg. It did not take long for Yekaterinburg to fall to the Japanese, as the Russian troops were on their way to defend St. Petersburg, which was already under the Japanese. All it took were a few units of modern armours and mechanized infantries to defeat the gunships and marines stationed at Yekaterinburg. The modern armours were left to defend the newly acquired city, while the rest of the troops were deployed to invade Moscow. Seeing as it was the capital, they had a hard time trying to get the upper hand. The jet fighters and stealth bombers reduced the defences of Moscow, but some were shot down in the process. Tokugawa ordered more modern armours to be airlifted to Yakutsk, the closest city to Moscow that had an airport. Not only that, reinforcements for the defence of St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg were also deployed. Moscow was conquered by the Japanese after a month of violence. As all of their cities were conquered, the Russian civilization was destroyed.
Tokugawa scanned the map. Greece still dominated the Northern side of the island. At that point, most of his troops were stationed nearest to Athens. Tokugawa rallied his troops to Sparta, the city closest to Athens. He stationed them there for several weeks until there was enough troops to conquer Athens. Once again, after he deemed that there were enough troops, he declared war on Alexander and sent the troops to invade Athens. However, as Tokugawa was unable to gauge the defences of Athens, he underestimated the Greek army. Athens was prepared to counter the Japanese with equal, if not more, strength. Not only that, Alexander spared some units to attempt to reclaim Warwick. Of course, Tokugawa had reinforced the defences of Warwick, but he still worried about it. Tokugawa was distracted by plotting how to eliminate the Greek units on Japanese lands, he did not bother when General Oda came to him to report about the invasion of Athens. More Greek troops were stationed there. Tokugawa had lost many men in the invasion. He was horrified when he saw that Athens had many units of marines and mechanized infantries defending it.
Tokugawa called off the war with Greece. He needed to rethink his method of attack. Clearly, sending more troops to Athens would not work. He sent some spies to Greece's other cities. Corinth looked like it could be easily invaded, but it was too near to Athens. The Greek army would swiftly send reinforcements in no time, rendering it useless to invade it. Spies sent to Thebes came back with a report of troops stationed there. Much like Corinth, Thebes was not heavily defended. There were only a few units of mechanized infantries and marines. Apart from that, there were no jet fighters or stealth bombers stationed to intercept enemy vassals. Tokugawa grinned at that. Thebes would be their next target. Argos, which was located further North of Thebes, was reported to be very poorly defended. Gunships were stationed there, along with two units of SAM infantries. What Alexander was thinking, Tokugawa could not comprehend. Sending most of his troops to defend Athens at the cost of the other cities wasn't the smartest idea. And he was the one who called Tokugawa tactless. On multiple occasions. Quite ironic. Tokugawa wasted no time sending his troops to the borders of Greece. Alexander had to pay for his insubordination, at the price of his cities.
It was not long before another war broke out. Japanese troops stationed at the border made a beeline for Thebes. Stealth bombers and jet fighters were sent to reduce the defences of Thebes, giving the Japanese army an easier time to seize the city. In just a matter of days, Thebes fell to the Japanese.
The Greeks and Egyptians never got along in the first place. So when Hatshepsut declared war on Alexander, Tokugawa nearly pitied Alexander. Key word: nearly. The Japanese army had an easier time fighting the Greeks. Mostly because Hatshepsut had sent her troops to attack the Greek cities. It then dawned on Tokugawa: he negotiated with the Egyptian Queen to attack Corinth. It was the city closest to the nearest Egyptian city, so it worked out for both of them. It was only within mere days that Corinth was destroyed by the Egyptian troops. Hatshepsut was not one to spare a city, she commanded her troops to plunder and demolish the remains of Corinth. Meanwhile, Japanese troops were close to conquering Argos. A few more units of modern armours would do the trick. With the very obvious plot to conquer Argos, Alexander sent reinforcement troops from Athens. It was too late however, when the Japanese seized Argos with such brutality, the Greek troops were overwhelmed. Soon enough, Argos was conquered and belonged to the Japanese.
The Japanese took their time to rest and recover. From the looks of it, they could afford a small period of rest as Hatshepsut's army was engaging a fight in several cities. Rows of men and women being treated could be seen in Argos. There were also incidents of Greek revolts. That, however, was promptly dealt with by the army. More troops were being airlifted to defend Argos and Thebes just in case the Greeks tried to reclaim it. But seeing as how they were busy with the Egyptians, Tokugawa doubt it would happen. But hey, better safe than sorry right?
Within one week, Japan's troops were ready to head out to battle. Some were still recovering, so they were stationed to defend the city. Those with less injuries were rallied to be sent to Athens Gunships and modern armours were sent. Units of marines followed suit. As expected, Athens was heavily defended. Jet fighters patrol the skies, ready to intercept enemy planes. Just for that, Tokugawa had ordered the training of several artillery troops. It was a backup just in case their jet fighters and stealth bombers happened to be shot down by the Greeks. They came in clutch when several stealth bombers were damaged after a few rounds of bombing. Many men were lost in the battle. Marines could be seen desperately searching for cover. Gunships were shot down by Greek mechanized infantries. However, it was not purely one-sided. The Greek army also faced casualties. Japanese modern armours were tearing through the defences of Greek marines. Japanese jet fighters focused on targeting the Greek troops from their aerial attack. The Greek Army suffered casualties from it, before being attacked by a mob of angry Japanese marines. Soon enough, the Japanese army tired out the Greek. Athens was finally conquered by Japan.
To say that Tokugawa was complacent is an understatement. The phrase "Overconfidence will destroy you" lingered in his mind, but the Greeks were backed into a corner by the Japanese and Egyptian troops. Literally. Greece was left with Knossos and Mycenae. The latter being an island itself somewhere Southeast of Osaka, and the former on the edge of the island. As a last resort, Alexander had sent his settlers to create the city of Herakleia slightly above the ruins of Corinth. Unfortunately for Japan, Hatshepsut's army had seized Knossos while the Japanese troops were still being rallied. In Tokugawa's opinion, it was merely a minor setback as he could not conquer that city. Luckily, the Egyptians demolished Knossos and killed the civilians rather than converting it to an Egyptian city. To expand the borders of Japan in that direction, Tokugawa could just send settlers to build a city near the remains of Knossos. Which he did. Izumo was located beside the ruins of Knossos (which was promptly demolished as children from Izumo frequently go there for fun).
At this point, Tokugawa could eliminate the Greeks from the world. Alexander only had Herakleia and Mycenae. Tokugawa found it boring to merely conquer more Greek cities. The Greeks barely had any troops left after losing Athens. Even Tokugawa felt that enough blood has been shed between the two cities. For once, Tokugawa opted to choose a more civilized, diplomatic way of conquering. He asked General Hijikata to send a message to Alexander, requesting an audience with him, so as to tie the loose ends of the war. Tokugawa also requested the presence of Hatshepsut, which prompted Hijikata to give him a weird look. Soon enough, the three immortals met. As a compensation for a peace treaty, Alexander had to give up Herakleia. Alexander had no choice but to give in to the Japanese's demand. He begrudgingly agreed, in the promise that he would be spared. Hatshepsut was there to witness the exchange. In exchange for sum of gold, Tokugawa managed to convince her to make peace with Alexander.
With that out of the way, Tokugawa could only bask in the glory of his quest. With the Greeks practically banished to a small island, Japan controls the whole of the island, save for Hatshepsut's two cities located on the very edge of the island. As much as it irked Tokugawa, it did not matter as the Egyptians barely had control of the land, as most of them belonged to Japan. With such a formidable achievement, Tokugawa retired back to his palace, weary of the wars he had caused.