alternatehistory.com
39
Anyways, I'm gonna go a bit faster following this update in this timeline so as to see if I can move to the 1500s soon enough and wrap up in the 1600s.
Oh and my many, many thanks for being nominated for the Turtledoves. Really appreciate it, and if if ya'll could throw in a vote for Renovation that'd be absolutely excellent.
-----
Back in the Roman Empire, the narrative left of with a turning point in the recent war. Rome had called in her age old ally of Bulgaria in the defense of the motherland after being effectively cut in half from her Asian possessions. Bulgaria agreed, her leadership seeing an easy means to expand and further centralize the state’s power by use of the so called “Carolingian strategy”: extensive conquest of new lands and marshalling of the nobility to provide openings for central state authority to expand. The Roman-Bulgar armies were ultimately successful in their attempt to smash the Genoese troops and relieve the siege of Constantinople- at a heavy cost. Genoa had paid for the best, and they delivered. The comparatively small professional forces of Rome and Bulgaria, and whatever marshalled levies that had been available at the time suffered heavily in attempting to wrest control of Thrace.
While the line had been broken, this didn’t mean Genoa was out of the game. Being that the Genoese had naval supremacy, they were successful in bailing out a decent remainder of their troops engaged in Constantinople via the fleet. Upon reaching the safety of the water, troops were sent to any Genoese controlled islands, where the army could safely lick their wounds and re-organize, returning to the front lines when necessary… until news from back home reached. There, the Genoese started to scramble, and pull their troops and fleet back out to confront the Savoyards.
This gave the Romans some breathing room, but plenty of damage had been done already. Much of Thrace had been plundered; the coast was still under partial blockade; the coastal cities had also suffered raids from the Genoese navy and the Asian provinces were under invasion from the newest horde.
Yet fresh from their victory at Constantinople, imperial resolve had hardened. And with it, the tide was turning. The army had been able to levy emergency taxes from all sectors of the empire, including the church to fund the restoration of the navy and link up with the east. Furthermore, when news reached that the former emperor Constantine had been found dead amongst those at the siege, any of his would be support evaporated. The people, for better or for worse, were rallying under their new regime against the Genoese and any would be collaborator. In practice, this meant the factions that may have been supporting Constantine could no longer do so, and it became politically impossible not to give allegiance to the military junta in Constantinople. Constantine had seared his legacy as a traitor, and anyone who could be associated with him would be branded one as well.
In any case, the empire was firmly under one rule again. While this seems very nice, one must note this didn’t actually amount to anything initially. The realities of exhaustion and logistics set in, and it was necessary to plan before acting. Therefore, other than relaying messages to the eastern command, shipbuilding and rebuilding the army into a coherent force, not much was done in the aftermath of the 1412.
The East was a different story, of course. But the east has always been different. Despite being cut off from Constantinople, it chugged on satisfactorily, even in the face of the renewal of raids by Karaman forces. This was due in part in the ways Roman Asia had been set up. Learning from experience of the dark days of the Seljuq implosion, Roman Asia was allowed a greater amount of autonomy than other provinces, with a heavy emphasis on militia forces and settlement by yeoman farmers who could act as border guards until imperial forces could be deployed. The coastal cities and the fertile plains were of course, able to provide the state enough of a power base to support a rudimentary administration, and a healthy investment in fortifications never hurt anyone. All in all, the grand strategy was to make Anatolia hard to crack and able to take care of itself.
In the long term this might be a bad decision, where in which a rebellion from Anatolia might prove fatal to secession (along with generally being militarily stronger than the Balkan provinces), as of right now, this allowed the state to have a hands off approach when it came to dealing with cross border raids, an annoying yet inevitable reality following the influx of Turkmen tribes during the Mongol invasion of Anatolia.
Here in active wartime, this system had meant Anatolia was prepared for defense. Much like in the initial decades of the Arab expansion, raids were allowed into Roman territory. It was returning home that was the problem, as troops whittled down and harassed on the journey back home. Furthermore, the sheer amount of fortifications that needed to be taken, along with militia resistance, made the Karaman advance slow and painful. Do note, this did not mean the Romans could, (or wanted to for that matter) strike back into Anatolia. The army stationed in Anatolia at the time was under equipped [1] and her leaders too cautious to consider advancing until reinforcements arrived. Nor are militia forces good for offense. They might know their home terrain well, but not the enemy’s. Or be trained for that matter. Particularly against a largely light cavalry based army.
But that’s enough rambling.
Back to the matter at hand. That year the Romans did good, all things considered, and Genoa leaving allowed them to get the breather they needed. Of course, it also brought with it a split in the upper ranks on what to do: Should the Romans grow the navy once more, and drive the Italians out of their backyard in the Aegean? Or should they focus on the Turks and end the threat once and for all?
As befitting, they did both and accomplished less than expected.
I try.
Anyways, I'm gonna go a bit faster following this update in this timeline so as to see if I can move to the 1500s soon enough and wrap up in the 1600s.
Oh and my many, many thanks for being nominated for the Turtledoves. Really appreciate it, and if if ya'll could throw in a vote for Renovation that'd be absolutely excellent.
-----
Back in the Roman Empire, the narrative left of with a turning point in the recent war. Rome had called in her age old ally of Bulgaria in the defense of the motherland after being effectively cut in half from her Asian possessions. Bulgaria agreed, her leadership seeing an easy means to expand and further centralize the state’s power by use of the so called “Carolingian strategy”: extensive conquest of new lands and marshalling of the nobility to provide openings for central state authority to expand. The Roman-Bulgar armies were ultimately successful in their attempt to smash the Genoese troops and relieve the siege of Constantinople- at a heavy cost. Genoa had paid for the best, and they delivered. The comparatively small professional forces of Rome and Bulgaria, and whatever marshalled levies that had been available at the time suffered heavily in attempting to wrest control of Thrace.
While the line had been broken, this didn’t mean Genoa was out of the game. Being that the Genoese had naval supremacy, they were successful in bailing out a decent remainder of their troops engaged in Constantinople via the fleet. Upon reaching the safety of the water, troops were sent to any Genoese controlled islands, where the army could safely lick their wounds and re-organize, returning to the front lines when necessary… until news from back home reached. There, the Genoese started to scramble, and pull their troops and fleet back out to confront the Savoyards.
This gave the Romans some breathing room, but plenty of damage had been done already. Much of Thrace had been plundered; the coast was still under partial blockade; the coastal cities had also suffered raids from the Genoese navy and the Asian provinces were under invasion from the newest horde.
Yet fresh from their victory at Constantinople, imperial resolve had hardened. And with it, the tide was turning. The army had been able to levy emergency taxes from all sectors of the empire, including the church to fund the restoration of the navy and link up with the east. Furthermore, when news reached that the former emperor Constantine had been found dead amongst those at the siege, any of his would be support evaporated. The people, for better or for worse, were rallying under their new regime against the Genoese and any would be collaborator. In practice, this meant the factions that may have been supporting Constantine could no longer do so, and it became politically impossible not to give allegiance to the military junta in Constantinople. Constantine had seared his legacy as a traitor, and anyone who could be associated with him would be branded one as well.
In any case, the empire was firmly under one rule again. While this seems very nice, one must note this didn’t actually amount to anything initially. The realities of exhaustion and logistics set in, and it was necessary to plan before acting. Therefore, other than relaying messages to the eastern command, shipbuilding and rebuilding the army into a coherent force, not much was done in the aftermath of the 1412.
The East was a different story, of course. But the east has always been different. Despite being cut off from Constantinople, it chugged on satisfactorily, even in the face of the renewal of raids by Karaman forces. This was due in part in the ways Roman Asia had been set up. Learning from experience of the dark days of the Seljuq implosion, Roman Asia was allowed a greater amount of autonomy than other provinces, with a heavy emphasis on militia forces and settlement by yeoman farmers who could act as border guards until imperial forces could be deployed. The coastal cities and the fertile plains were of course, able to provide the state enough of a power base to support a rudimentary administration, and a healthy investment in fortifications never hurt anyone. All in all, the grand strategy was to make Anatolia hard to crack and able to take care of itself.
In the long term this might be a bad decision, where in which a rebellion from Anatolia might prove fatal to secession (along with generally being militarily stronger than the Balkan provinces), as of right now, this allowed the state to have a hands off approach when it came to dealing with cross border raids, an annoying yet inevitable reality following the influx of Turkmen tribes during the Mongol invasion of Anatolia.
Here in active wartime, this system had meant Anatolia was prepared for defense. Much like in the initial decades of the Arab expansion, raids were allowed into Roman territory. It was returning home that was the problem, as troops whittled down and harassed on the journey back home. Furthermore, the sheer amount of fortifications that needed to be taken, along with militia resistance, made the Karaman advance slow and painful. Do note, this did not mean the Romans could, (or wanted to for that matter) strike back into Anatolia. The army stationed in Anatolia at the time was under equipped [1] and her leaders too cautious to consider advancing until reinforcements arrived. Nor are militia forces good for offense. They might know their home terrain well, but not the enemy’s. Or be trained for that matter. Particularly against a largely light cavalry based army.
But that’s enough rambling.
Back to the matter at hand. That year the Romans did good, all things considered, and Genoa leaving allowed them to get the breather they needed. Of course, it also brought with it a split in the upper ranks on what to do: Should the Romans grow the navy once more, and drive the Italians out of their backyard in the Aegean? Or should they focus on the Turks and end the threat once and for all?
As befitting, they did both and accomplished less than expected.