Part 12 Ascalon, Damietta and Belbeis
The week Christmas it became clear to King Fulk that the fortress of Ascalon was indeed weakly held. On 7 January, 1132 he ordered a full scale assault which succeeded in forcing entrance into the city. For more than a day there was desperate fighting. The fortress commander then realized he was hopelessly outnumbered and requested a brief truce. When Fulk assured him that the citizens would be allowed to return to Egypt he surrendered.
Ships were showing at Aqaba fairly regularly by then. King Falk wrote a letter to Prince Epimachos informing him of the capture of Ascalon. He also said that he was going to send a modest force west to Pelusium. From there it would be readily available to assist the Alodians if needed. This force ended up being 400 knights and 2,000 foot soldiers under the command of William of Bures. When he composed this letter Fulk hoped that Prince Epimachos did not ask for anything more because Fulk was already having problems with the other Crusader states and anticipated having to march north with his army before long.
On 16 January Alodian cavalry reached the key Egyptian port of Damietta where there was a small garrison. The next four days the leader of the cavalry unit and the garrison commander negotiated. Even though the garrison was small the Alodians were too weak to try to make an assault. After that additional Alodian cavalry arrived and they were then able to bribe the wavering commander into surrendering his garrison.
The Egyptian navy had suffered heavy losses fighting the Venetians in 1123. Since then they were slowly rebuilding their fleet and most of it was currently anchored at Damietta. In the confusion of the last year most of the ships were less than fully manned. The garrison commander had threatened to use sailors to bolster his defenses but even he was dubious that most of the vessels’ captains would acquiesce. In the following weeks the Alodians and Axumites tried to make the port function using Egyptian labor directed by officials who had begun to arrive in December. On 22 February a cargo ship managed to leave for Taranto. That was considered an achievement.
In the predawn hours of 24 February a sizable Venetian fleet arrived at Damietta. When John II became Emperor in 1087 he refused to confirm the 1082 treaty with the Most Serene Republic of Venice. This was because he felt it gave the Venetians too many trade related privileges in exchange for military support they never delivered. His antipathy towards the Venetians deepened when some prominent Venetians abused a member of the Imperial family. This escalated into a costly war with Venice that went badly and forced him to confirm the detested treaty in 1126.
So when Barachiel made him want to help the Alodians subjugate Egypt he was forced to acknowledge that he needed the help of the Venetian navy to do so. He swallowed his bile and contacted Pietro Polani, who had become Doge the year before. He informed the Doge that Alodia and Makuria were making a serious attempt to subjugate Egypt. He said that he wanted to assist those efforts but needed the help of the Venetian navy to do so. He would be grateful if they did but expected that King Paul of Alodia would be even more grateful. There was no need to remind the Doge of the importance of Venice’s trade with Egypt.
The noble families of Venice held a great deal of animosity towards the Byzantine Empire at this time. Polani was well aware of this. He often felt the same way. However the importance of the trade with Egypt was too big for him to ignore. He soon decided to be bold and reached a deal with John II and quickly assembled a suitably sized fleet. The Byzantine military expedition consisted of 200 horse archers and 2,000 infantry including 150 of the elite Varangian Guard pulled from their garrison on Cyprus. There were also 4 disassembled state of the art trebuchets along with 200 artillerists well trained in their use. The Venetian contribution was 900 mercenary foot soldiers led by Venetian noblemen.
One of the first things the Venetians when they arrived at Damietta did was to capture as many of the anchored Egyptian ships as possible. The Egyptians were ill prepared for an attack. Four warships did try to engage the Venetians but this quickly proved to be a brave but futile gesture. Some Egyptian ships tried to escape but only three succeeded. The rest were captured by noon. Around this time the Venetian mercenaries began to land. Once they identified themselves they were warmly greeted by the Alodians. The Venetian commander insisted on taking over control of the entire port. The Alodian commander did see anything wrong with that. Indeed he was glad as it freed up his men to perform other more suitable missions.
Before long the Byzantine expedition began to land as well. The Venetian commander decided to keep two thirds of his soldiers at Damietta. The remainder accompanied the Byzantines as they proceeded to Belbeis. The city’s fortifications had proven more formidable than General Ouggamaet had anticipated. As a result the siege was proving very difficult. Under John II the Byzantine army had become very skilled at wall breaking. By 11 March all of the trebuchets were ready and opened fire at noon supplementing the Axumite siege engines.
Four days later the walls were finally breached. The Varangian Guard were at the forefront of the soldiers entering the city. Their ferocity and determination stymied the Egyptian efforts to repel the intrusion. The heavy fighting continued with Axumite soldiers joining the Byzantines inside the walls before very long. By the afternoon of the 13th it became obvious that the city was going to fall. One of Kutayfat’s senior officers slit his throat. He then assumed command and negotiated a surrender in a few hours. Ouggamaet acted honorably and so there was no wholesale slaughter. Indeed he encouraged the defeated Egyptian soldiers to serve the Regent. Some of them did.
The week Christmas it became clear to King Fulk that the fortress of Ascalon was indeed weakly held. On 7 January, 1132 he ordered a full scale assault which succeeded in forcing entrance into the city. For more than a day there was desperate fighting. The fortress commander then realized he was hopelessly outnumbered and requested a brief truce. When Fulk assured him that the citizens would be allowed to return to Egypt he surrendered.
Ships were showing at Aqaba fairly regularly by then. King Falk wrote a letter to Prince Epimachos informing him of the capture of Ascalon. He also said that he was going to send a modest force west to Pelusium. From there it would be readily available to assist the Alodians if needed. This force ended up being 400 knights and 2,000 foot soldiers under the command of William of Bures. When he composed this letter Fulk hoped that Prince Epimachos did not ask for anything more because Fulk was already having problems with the other Crusader states and anticipated having to march north with his army before long.
On 16 January Alodian cavalry reached the key Egyptian port of Damietta where there was a small garrison. The next four days the leader of the cavalry unit and the garrison commander negotiated. Even though the garrison was small the Alodians were too weak to try to make an assault. After that additional Alodian cavalry arrived and they were then able to bribe the wavering commander into surrendering his garrison.
The Egyptian navy had suffered heavy losses fighting the Venetians in 1123. Since then they were slowly rebuilding their fleet and most of it was currently anchored at Damietta. In the confusion of the last year most of the ships were less than fully manned. The garrison commander had threatened to use sailors to bolster his defenses but even he was dubious that most of the vessels’ captains would acquiesce. In the following weeks the Alodians and Axumites tried to make the port function using Egyptian labor directed by officials who had begun to arrive in December. On 22 February a cargo ship managed to leave for Taranto. That was considered an achievement.
In the predawn hours of 24 February a sizable Venetian fleet arrived at Damietta. When John II became Emperor in 1087 he refused to confirm the 1082 treaty with the Most Serene Republic of Venice. This was because he felt it gave the Venetians too many trade related privileges in exchange for military support they never delivered. His antipathy towards the Venetians deepened when some prominent Venetians abused a member of the Imperial family. This escalated into a costly war with Venice that went badly and forced him to confirm the detested treaty in 1126.
So when Barachiel made him want to help the Alodians subjugate Egypt he was forced to acknowledge that he needed the help of the Venetian navy to do so. He swallowed his bile and contacted Pietro Polani, who had become Doge the year before. He informed the Doge that Alodia and Makuria were making a serious attempt to subjugate Egypt. He said that he wanted to assist those efforts but needed the help of the Venetian navy to do so. He would be grateful if they did but expected that King Paul of Alodia would be even more grateful. There was no need to remind the Doge of the importance of Venice’s trade with Egypt.
The noble families of Venice held a great deal of animosity towards the Byzantine Empire at this time. Polani was well aware of this. He often felt the same way. However the importance of the trade with Egypt was too big for him to ignore. He soon decided to be bold and reached a deal with John II and quickly assembled a suitably sized fleet. The Byzantine military expedition consisted of 200 horse archers and 2,000 infantry including 150 of the elite Varangian Guard pulled from their garrison on Cyprus. There were also 4 disassembled state of the art trebuchets along with 200 artillerists well trained in their use. The Venetian contribution was 900 mercenary foot soldiers led by Venetian noblemen.
One of the first things the Venetians when they arrived at Damietta did was to capture as many of the anchored Egyptian ships as possible. The Egyptians were ill prepared for an attack. Four warships did try to engage the Venetians but this quickly proved to be a brave but futile gesture. Some Egyptian ships tried to escape but only three succeeded. The rest were captured by noon. Around this time the Venetian mercenaries began to land. Once they identified themselves they were warmly greeted by the Alodians. The Venetian commander insisted on taking over control of the entire port. The Alodian commander did see anything wrong with that. Indeed he was glad as it freed up his men to perform other more suitable missions.
Before long the Byzantine expedition began to land as well. The Venetian commander decided to keep two thirds of his soldiers at Damietta. The remainder accompanied the Byzantines as they proceeded to Belbeis. The city’s fortifications had proven more formidable than General Ouggamaet had anticipated. As a result the siege was proving very difficult. Under John II the Byzantine army had become very skilled at wall breaking. By 11 March all of the trebuchets were ready and opened fire at noon supplementing the Axumite siege engines.
Four days later the walls were finally breached. The Varangian Guard were at the forefront of the soldiers entering the city. Their ferocity and determination stymied the Egyptian efforts to repel the intrusion. The heavy fighting continued with Axumite soldiers joining the Byzantines inside the walls before very long. By the afternoon of the 13th it became obvious that the city was going to fall. One of Kutayfat’s senior officers slit his throat. He then assumed command and negotiated a surrender in a few hours. Ouggamaet acted honorably and so there was no wholesale slaughter. Indeed he encouraged the defeated Egyptian soldiers to serve the Regent. Some of them did.