My new story already has a chapter posted. If you want to read it, it's called "Old Bloodlines."
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Anno Domini, 831-February-3-13
Apparently, the plan I had been preparing for a quick campaign seemed to have collapsed like snow melting in summer, and now this was our enormous dilemma. We had taken the coast of Aegyptus, but we still had the great problem that our advances inland were not as fast as I wanted.
My intention had been for the sieges to be quick with the help of the Coptic majority, but that would not be the case, since according to the changes the wali had made to maintain his own local support, it was now incredibly difficult to find people willing to help us in this work, since in itself they gained nothing different by changing sides.
They might even have more taxes if we compared them with Byzantine taxes, without considering that they might try to impose special taxes to extract more tribute from the region, considering that Aegyptus receives an enormous amount of Indian trade that brings spices, so it would certainly become a torment to obtain all the support necessary to continue.
So far, even recruitment had been having problems. With the capture of Alexandria, after convincing a huge group of merchants to bribe the guards in exchange for sparing them much of the looting, and with the many coastal cities and inland villages we had taken, we controlled a population close to 200,000 inhabitants more or less, since without a census that information could not be confirmed.
But even with that population, we had only recruited 3,000 men, which was an incredibly low number considering that, if I compared it with what I had done in Antioch, we were recruiting almost three times fewer men.
Because many no longer felt oppressed, and also did not want to board a ship that might sink, since much of the army was made up of thematic troops without any military experience, who had only managed to hold together by being combined with experienced troops such as my foederati and some mercenaries who could be hired with gold in Constantinople. Even so, that meant the Copts, for the most part, were not something we could rely on, so I had already begun multiple administrative preparations to strip the lands from anyone who had not collaborated. Alexandria and the themata would be the only ones to preserve their territorial rights.
But with the rest, a land cadastre would be carried out and the lands would probably begin to be distributed among those who joined the army, since this seemed like it would simply be another conquest, because apparently religion mattered little now, only which state had more power.
Currently, there were three fortresses preventing our advance toward Memphis, blocking our path, and there was also a considerable force of sarakenoi and Copts preventing our progress.
Naukratis, Sais and Thmuis, right in the Nile Delta, had halted our advance, since entering deep into the territory without controlling the rear could leave our men exposed to sarakenoi cavalry attacks that we would not be able to stop without exposing ourselves by moving more troops and ending up in a complicated situation.
And there lay both the problem and our solution. Spring was approaching and clearly, until the war ended, there would not be much land to cultivate without attempts to burn the rival harvest, which would leave the locals without food. That was not a major problem for us, since we had logistical lines with the Empire, but clearly we could not import everything by sea, since the amount of food consumed by an army that reached one hundred thousand men and thousands of horses was astronomical by the agricultural production standards that could be found in the Empire.
Because of that, a famine in autumn or winter near the end of the year was to be expected, but to reach that moment, when those supply problems appeared, we had to survive the infernal summer of the region.
And there lay the great problem with everything. I did not want to have a military campaign in the middle of the local summer, where temperatures could reach 40 degrees Celsius. Many would die from heatstroke, and fighting in heavy armor in this climate was madness, so it would affect everything. Our tactics and strategies would have to adapt to a type of fighting that clearly greatly benefited the sarakenoi, who were accustomed to tactics based on mobility and speed.
So this would probably be a slow campaign, clearly not what I wanted, since I had expected to finish it in a year, but now I had three sieges in front of me that I had to finish before continuing down the Nile and besieging the sarakenoi capital. It might even cast doubt on a three-year campaign.
I left my tent and began to observe the state of the camp. There was nothing worth mentioning, since the men who built it had been building camps like this for years, so the standard had been maintained. After simply reviewing the most important things regarding the separation of the tents and the watchtowers with guards, I headed toward one of the siege camps while watching the trebuchets do their work of destroying the walls.
The walls were firm, so the use of trebuchets, although effective in weakening the walls, destroying the battlements and one tower or another, was not doing much. Sais was proving to be a fortress well supplied with water and surely well guarded in terms of food, so this would be a long siege.
''Is there any news with the siege?'' I said, watching as the engineers continued their work of launching stones toward the walls.
''My strategos, the walls are resisting strongly. The times we have approached with the help of the Serbs to see if there are breaks in the structure or fractures that could be exploited, we have not managed to observe anything indicating that the walls will give way soon, so we will have to keep waiting longer to achieve the precise circumstances for the collapse of the walls'' said the engineer.
''Is it feasible to carry out undermining?'' I asked the engineer.
''We do not know how these walls were built or how deep they were made. From the resistance shown against our siege equipment, I would assume it must be quite deep to distribute the force of the impact, so we will have a great deal of work… We can do it since the soil of the area makes the work easier, but I think it would take quite some time. By the time we are reaching the specific area to dig, the trebuchets may already have brought down the walls'' replied the engineer, taking out his wax tablet while making some calculations.
''Good, I understand. Do it anyway because I need those walls to fall as soon as possible. In summer, this place will be torture, so I need you to start building several water depots so we can have drinkable water, since I do not think it is safe to drink from the Nile considering everything that can come down its course. So use this moment as well to make water reserves that can be used'' I said, moving while I continued watching them load another heavy stone into the sling of the trebuchet.
''We will do what is possible. We will begin the work immediately'' said the engineer.
I nodded and continued watching the siege, and so I began moving between the siege camps, inspecting each and every one of the sieges we were carrying out. All of them seemed not to be advancing as they should, and everything indicated that we would have a great deal of time occupied in long sieges that would not allow us to keep advancing.
With little else to do, I began checking that all the supplies were arriving until, finally, news reached me from the east, where Sigurd had begun skirmishing against the sarakenoi, forcing us to deploy scouts to watch the south, even if this was very dangerous, to prevent some army coming down the Nile from breaking the sieges.
Meanwhile, I took my available troops and we began marching toward Arabia Petraea, since I wanted, if possible, to start a battle in the area and prevent the sarakenoi from entering Aegyptus, since that would leave them isolated from the supplies that would be vital.
We reached the military camp we had at Clysma, which was the most vital part of our defense against an offensive by land.
''Sigurd'' I said, entering Sigurd's tent, where I found him cleaning the blood from some scimitar while smiling.
''Basil, good that you finally arrived. It seems you were right. The sarakenoi are coming up through here. Their skirmishes are becoming more and more insistent, but they have achieved nothing. In many places, trenches have been dug in the area to deny their horsemen their mobility. If they want to pass, they must face us head on'' said Sigurd with a smile.
''Yes, that is the idea. The only chance we have to stop an army trained with horse archers is to deny them the most vital thing: their mobility. So those trenches and excavations in the area are vital to prevent some forces from entering and trying to harass our supply lines.''
''Yes, though not everywhere. In some areas, the work has not been finished, but at least we have left some ready, so if we keep preventing their scouts from observing the terrain, we could be ready for a frontal clash and for blood to flow'' said Sigurd with a smile.
''Good… excellent work. We will have to see what happens, but we should still keep extending that trench. The important thing is to deny them entry into their territories. I only hope they do not have a fleet to transport them back to Egypt, but if they do, well, that will be difficult'' I said, removing my helmet.
I left the tent and began observing the camp, seeing thousands of men preparing themselves, and it was not long before horsemen appeared, returning to the camp with news that the wali's army was days away by march.
So, gathering almost 60,000 men in several camps along the border with Arabia Petraea, we waited while making sure the enemy vanguards did not find any wells, since I had ordered the villages along their path to be burned and the wells poisoned by throwing in the bodies of animals and dead defenders to put pressure on their water reserves.
Several days passed like that until our scouts confirmed that we had the sarakenoi in front of us.
''The left flank has orders not to advance, so the enemy right flank should be left exposed, since the center and our left flank will apply pressure, so the cavalry must be alert to accept a quick charge if possible'' I told one of the tourmarches who would be in charge of leading the charge of our heavy cavalry, which was less numerous.
''You will begin harassing them immediately to draw the attention of the bulk of the sarakenoi horsemen. Pull them as far away as possible from the lines so they cannot launch a charge to help pressure our ranks'' I told some foederati leaders who commanded much of our lighter auxiliary cavalry.
The leaders nodded and rode to their units.
''Sigurd, no advancing. Let them expose themselves. We have to take advantage of any kind of mistake they make. We have the luxury of being able to wait. We chose the terrain, they can only adapt'' I said, looking at Sigurd, who was inspecting the heavy Varangian infantry that was forming up.
''Understood. Either way, I will crush many heads even if the battle is short, if everything goes well'' replied Sigurd.
''Something will go wrong. No plan survives the enemy, but that is the general idea. Try to trap their best troops in a short battle and crush them with a charge of heavy cavalry and cataphracts'' I said, nodding.
I began giving orders to the tourmarches who were with us, since on the front and the right flank were the themata troops who would have to fight against the more inexperienced enemy troops, evening the situation.
While that happened and our lines prepared, we watched as the forces of the sarakenoi approached on the horizon. According to the estimates, they numbered around 35,000 to 48,000, if the scouts had managed to count properly, which could not be done as it should because they were clearly sending their horsemen to hinder everything.
The sarakenoi lines began to form and deploy in a battle plan, and I noticed that they were concentrating a great deal of cavalry and camels on their left flank, so I had to move some troops from our right flank to prevent the numerical difference from becoming too uneven.
We began readjusting our strategy while observing the movements of our enemies, but at the same time, they were also observing ours, because they placed more men and reinforced their right flank, making it clear that they would try to push through our left flank, which was exactly what I wanted.
Long minutes passed like that while I observed what the enemy was doing and tried to gain the superiority needed to execute the plan, but those minutes became hours as we stood there watching one another.
Slowly, the sun began to move while we continued in that battle of stares without any result.
Dusk began to arrive and I ordered the men to eat, sending soldiers we had in reserve to deliver food to the front lines.
But while we were waiting for something, the enemies began to withdraw, and I saw the surprised faces of all my commanders at the situation.
''Have the cavalry harass them a little, but nothing more. It is dangerous if it is a trap. Their horse archers could do a lot of damage'' I said, pointing to one of my horsemen, who rode off to inform the foederati leaders, and it was not long before I saw them riding behind the enemy troops. The enemy quickly sent cavalry to counter our attack.
''Do we pursue them, my strategos?'' asked one of the tourmarches who approached on foot.
''No, we will not enter the desert of Arabia Petraea. If they do not enter Aegyptus, that is better for us. Have scouts dispatched every hour to know where they are moving. If we can avoid fighting, all the better. Send a messenger by sea to Jerusalem in case the sarakenoi march there'' I said, sighing as I watched the enemies leave.
''Understood, strategos'' said the tourmarches.
''We return to the sieges as soon as it is confirmed that they are leaving the area'' I said, looking at my men, and we began to return to the camp.
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