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Anno Domini, 831-October-28
The troops of the caliph had disappeared. None of my scouts had managed to catch them in order to follow them. They only found their tracks, which went south.
When my scouts finally detected the presence of the caliph's troops again, they were using a large fleet in the southernmost parts of Aegyptus to travel to the other side of the Red Sea.
So they had officially abandoned the area completely. There was no more organized resistance and, finally, the resistance of the entire region had died. By interrogating prisoners, we discovered that we had killed the wali of Aegyptus, although the whereabouts of his direct relatives were unknown. What mattered was that he was dead and, with him, the reason for the resistance of the Copts.
As news of our victory spread, where around seventy thousand men who were with us had defeated a numerically superior force, which must have numbered nearly eighty thousand without counting the defenders, who numbered around sixteen thousand, the remaining fortresses surrendered.
Those that had Coptic commanders or garrisons surrendered those fortresses without any resistance, and the sarakenoi commanders did so in exchange for safe conduct so they could reach Muslim lands.
Something I was not going to deny them, since I had nearly grown gray hairs besieging Aegyptus. It had taken me months, almost a year, to take this place when it was supposedly a campaign that should have been simple. Everything had gone wrong.
A great deal of resistance, little cooperation, an organized response from the elites and even the caliph himself coming to fight to recover Aegyptus. But, at the end of the day, we had won with many casualties, many dead and even more wounded, which would obviously come at a cost. Ideally, one wanted to win without losing many men, since the campaign against the Carolingians still remained, and that meant reserves had to be kept for that campaign.
The idea was to obtain them from the Copts, but that would no longer be very easy, since I intended to punish them severely for their collaboration with the sarakenoi. The message could not be sent that it was acceptable to collaborate with the enemy, that no matter how much resistance they offered, they would be treated in the best possible way.
Even with those who surrendered peacefully, the confiscation of lands had already begun, placing them under imperial administration.
The long and tedious process of organizing and dividing the lands had already begun, as well as organizing the local labor force and beginning repairs, the construction of new fortresses watching important areas and the establishment of the patrols that had to protect trade.
The cadasters had begun, in addition to bringing in a great number of administrators from Crete. The university that Leo had started continued its progress and, in its multiple waves of literacy, it had also begun the education of bureaucrats for my plans.
Whether for the governorship of the foederati or for other conquests, many of these bureaucrats had already begun taking minor posts in the administration, handling finances and organizing the most basic of the basics.
But something that currently had my budget occupied, and many of the prisoners working, was that we were making a navigable canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
Nothing like the Suez Canal. At most, a nao-type ship had to be able to pass through, allowing a two-way passage.
So excavation had begun using the salt lakes to reduce the work, but in that area of Aegyptus, there were massive works underway, since it never hurt to open a simple commercial canal toward India, besides taking advantage of the fact that there were many prisoners and a great deal of available labor, since, with no one having control of the land, no one had to work it at this time.
Although the delivery of lands to themata soldiers had begun, these were only granted to those who inhabited the localities that had surrendered without any resistance, trying to create a new generation of troops that would serve the empire, although I doubted I could have the troops needed for the campaign against the Carolingians by the following year.
And although we were celebrating because we had Aegyptus back in the fold, I had given one prisoner, in addition to five nomismata, to every soldier who participated in the campaign, considerably reducing my share of the spoils.
Although I had not forgotten the punishment for the troops of the northwestern siege camp. All of them were denied participation in the spoils of the entire campaign. They would only be paid their salary and food, but the rest would return with something in their pockets while they would have nothing. Although that generated a multitude of complaints and rumors of mutiny, in the end, nothing happened, since most of the army was euphoric with the captured wealth.
Al-Fusṭāṭ was a gold mine. Since the city could not be evacuated of its riches for obvious reasons, everything had been concentrated in one place. The houses of the merchants were filled with coins and jewels, the houses of the nobles had enormous quantities of wealth that sometimes could not be counted easily, the houses of the inhabitants had tools and personal riches, and the city treasury contained the wealth that the wali had not been able to remove.
The amount of gold, silver, jewels and fabrics in those warehouses was overwhelming, probably several million in valuable objects, making it clear that Aegyptus was one of the richest provinces and that, by its hand, the economic power of the empire was secure.
From Al-Fusṭāṭ alone, almost forty percent of the spoils of the entire campaign had been captured, and almost everyone who had participated in it had ended up becoming comfortable inhabitants of the empire.
Unfortunately, there were many things I could not do, since I was not the basileous, but I had already sent letters to the imperial capital informing them of the victory and sending a list of military candidates to take the posts. I thought Aegyptus should be divided into three themas to guarantee its defense.
A Mediterranean thema in Alexandria, which would be responsible for protecting the African frontier; an Arab frontier to protect Arabia Petrae and, at the same time, the Mare rubrum in Klysma; and an internal thema of Aegyptus, which would be responsible for protecting the south from Memphis, giving my advice to the basileous.
Although I also wrote that I wanted that to be my reward, since Marinos could surely interfere with Theodora and try to ruin the plan we had made with Skleros to keep them from countering us in imperial politics.
''How long are we going to be here reviewing books?'' asked Sigurd, who was leaning on the armrest of one of the chairs while visibly bored.
''As long as necessary, my good friend from the North Sea. We have a great deal of work to do, because these lands must be very well administered to return them to their greatness. There is a lot of gold here ready to be collected, although first everything must be prepared in order to collect it'' I said, giving a faint smile as I looked at Sigurd, who was slumping into the chair from how bored he was.
''Can we continue the campaign as we did toward Africa? We are in season. Come on, like in the old days, when we raided the African coast, filling our drakkars with sarakenoi thrall. With the number of drakkars we have, we can empty the sarakenoi coasts of the area'' said Sigurd, standing up while giving ideas to do something he considered fun.
''We do not have time… Although we could launch a campaign to recover Africa, I do not think we need to recover more agricultural regions of the empire. With Aegyptus, we have more than enough to control the food supply for the empire. Even with the war and with many farmlands left untilled, the harvest was more than enough to feed the local population, so I see no point in investing in recovering Africa without a direct order from Theophilos'' I said, looking at Sigurd, who yawned audibly.
''I would offer to go hunt bandits, but we already hanged all of those, and the smart ones have already hidden'' said Sigurd, somewhat annoyed by the lack of combat.
''It is what it is, my good friend. The fighting will come. We will have our great battle against the Carolingians, and surely you will have more chances to die as you wish, in honorable combat before your god, so he may invite you to his side at his table'' I said, returning my attention to the many books that had to be balanced before all the information was delivered to the basileous.
While Sigurd remained leaning on his arm, yawning constantly, my third guest of the day finally appeared, Andronikos.
''Tourmarches, you finally arrive. I hope you had no problems with your men'' I said, looking at him closely as he greeted me and lowered his head slightly.
''Yes. It took me longer than I expected to organize my dead so they could be sent directly home. The preparations of coating them in oil and wrapping them in bandages took longer than expected, since the members of the local clergy do not know how to apply them because they had never done it before'' said Andronikos, placing his hands behind his back while moving one leg frequently.
''I am glad. I will not take much of your time, Andronikos. I know you are a busy man, especially now that you have to manage all that wealth we obtained, eh?'' I said with a smile. ''Well, the reason I asked you to come is because I sent your name to the imperial capital, recommending you as strategos of Inner Aegyptus, so you may take charge of the defense and manage the distribution of local lands'' I said, clasping my hands while observing the relatively young tourmarches.
''You recommended me?'' he said, somewhat surprised.
''Certainly. Although you showed certain deficiencies as a commander, you improved and learned from your mistakes, and that is much more than other officers allowed me to see. Like you, I have recommended a group of men to take the posts of strategos, although you must know that it depends on the basileous rhomaion to make the decision, and it will depend on how the themas are divided. I will recommend the creation of three themas, but if the basileous decides to create only one, then perhaps I am only raising your hopes. In any case, I wanted you to know this so you can make plans in case it becomes reality'' I said seriously while keeping my tone of voice neutral.
''Ah… I do not know what to say, my strategos. Well, I am grateful, of course. I never thought I would have your formal support to occupy one of the most important posts in the empire'' said Andronikos, whose eyes lit up while he could barely hide his smile from the excitement of the news.
''Yes, it is better for an officer who bled and fought hard to win this land to receive the post before some friend of someone in the capital who merely asked for a favor or paid very highly for the position. I hope you always place the empire above all else, since many think their personal interests come first and the empire afterward. So I have great expectations, and I hope you will do what is right when the moment of truth comes'' I said, nodding my head.
''Yes, yes, yes, my strategos. Our duty as defenders of the empire must not be altered by our temporary needs. God commands it and always guides us to fulfill our duties, trying to preserve our virtues for when we must answer before the tribunal of the Almighty'' said Andronikos, nodding repeatedly.
''Good, Andronikos, you may withdraw. See to your administrative duties and keep everything in order. If the answer is negative, you must be ready to return home, since the campaign has ended. If you remain, you will have to speak with your men to see whether you can make some transfers of the themata contracts'' I said without adding more, lowering my gaze and focusing on my books to finish reviewing the local accounting.
''It shall be done, strategos. I will have everything ready for when we must return or administer these lands'' replied Andronikos, who withdrew quickly, without hiding that he was walking very happily.
''Strange for a Roman'' said Sigurd, who had watched everything with some interest.
''Yes, strange. That is why I chose him. The other two were career officers who, in some cases, had been set aside by the aristocracy that paid for posts, so they resent the notables of the capital. They will be on our side when we begin to fight against the corruption that comes hand in hand with Marinos and his family'' I said, closing the book after having reviewed everything and taking out another.
''Let us hope that is so and that they do not turn into vipers, as Romans normally do'' said Sigurd seriously.
''Let us hope that is so'' I replied, opening the book.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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