1633 continued: The main debate in Italy for the Romans and Sicilians is, what now? The immediate goals have been achieved spectacularly, but King Cesare has not made peace. He is gambling that if he sticks it out, he can get concessions at the peace table (at this point, spring 1633, the Allies still control the bulk of the Roman Danube valley). Cesare has managed to up the number of troops he commands, but the new additions are weak in artillery and their equipment is often shoddy. The Sicilian army is still smaller overall, but it has expanded to 46 tourmai, the new recruits all equipped with D3 muskets produced at Bari, Syracuse, and Naples which match the Roman pattern.
There are a few targets in mind. Rome is one; it is not a long march away for the Sicilian army and the besiegers could be easily supplied via the Roman enclave at Civitavecchia. It would also be emotionally satisfying for the Romans, who have had quite enough of papal encouragements for attacks on the Empire.
The Sicilians don’t feel that to the same extent, but have their own reasons to be irritated with Pope Paul IV. The Orthodox proportion of Sicily’s population has been growing steadily over the past several decades due to increased trade and influence from the Romans, helped along by dismay at the growing corruption in the Avignon Papacy. There is also alienation along the Hungarian and Scandinavian models because of the solely Arletian & Spanish nature of the Papal court. Save for Naples, the cities of Sicily are mostly Orthodox and it is making inroads into the countryside, particularly Apulia, Basilicata, and Calabria. By 1630, the population is more than 60% Orthodox.
Pope Paul IV, of course, is not amused at the nest of ‘heretics’ to the south. An Inquisitor prior to his accession to the Pontifical Office, he has gone out of his way to harass Sicilians in Papal territory. In 1629, a well-loved Orthodox priest was in the Papal States overseeing purchases of sheep when a mob surrounded and beat him badly, although he managed to escape finally with help from his assistants. Although it appeared to be spontaneous, more than a few Sicilians think it was ‘encouraged’ from above.
At the same time, while it’d be emotionally satisfying, Rome is strategically insignificant. The papal subsidies to Theodor’s exchequer are noteworthy, but those are going from German clerics directly to the Holy Roman Emperor, not via Rome. So taking Rome wouldn’t do much to stop the flow of money, unless the Pope would rescind that at sword-point, but then such an arrangement could easily be repudiated by the Catholic Church in Germany, making the whole operation pointless. For this reason, an attack on Rome is shelved.
Another proposal is to muster an army in Venetia, using it as a base. The objective of this army would be to storm and seize the Brenner Pass, with the initial target of Innsbruck. The conquest of Tyrol by itself would be a serious blow to the Wittelsbachs. Its mines provide vital raw materials for weapons manufacture and its silver ones are important collateral for their snowballing loans. Furthermore, from Innsbruck one could strike east into Austria, hampering the flow of supplies down the Danube, or north into Bavaria itself.
The flaw to this plan is that such an offensive would be highly vulnerable to a flank attack from Lombardy to the west or Croatia to the east. Verona is a massive Lombard fortress, perfectly placed to take this Roman offensive out at the knees. Udine to the east is not so formidable, but still a threat that cannot be ignored.
There is some hope that the Bernese League might be persuaded to join in this attack. The League has been making covetous glances both to its south and east and an eastern assault would provide valuable cover. Furthermore relations between the League and the Holy Roman Emperor are rocky given that requests for battle cohorts have been denied; only the League and Lotharingia have declined to contribute in some way. And while the growth of professional armies amongst the great powers of Europe has diminished the qualitative lead of the cohorts that they held back in the 1400s and early 1500s, the League can still put at least 18000 well-disciplined infantry backed by a respectable field artillery into the field. But the current situation, with Allied forces well down the Danube, means the League for the moment is inclined to sit this one out.
Even without the league, this offensive could still work if it was in conjunction with a second attack to keep the Lombards off-balance. There are a couple of proposals there. One is an attack on Genoa, the key port of Lombardy. However Genoa is also very well fortified and garrisoned, including with the bulk of the Lombard fleet. While far smaller than the Roman-Sicilian battle-line, the twenty three battle-line ships there, mounting over 1300 cannon between themselves, cannot be despised.
Furthermore Genoese financiers are heavily involved in supporting Spain’s war in Granada and anything that interrupts Ferdinand’s credit and seriously irritates him is politically out of the question. Only he has the forces available in Western Europe to challenge the Triple Monarchy. Demetrios isn’t willing to offer concessions in the east but he does provide war materials for the Spanish at a discount to hopefully speed up the fall of Granada and Malaga. At the same time as the squadron departs for Mexico, another force of 2 battle-line ships and 5 smaller warships are sent to Malaga to help with the blockade. It is cast as a reprisal for corsair attacks on the Sicilian coast and Roman ships despite the peace treaty with the Marinid Sultan, but the real reason is that if Ferdinand’s hands are free he might use them against the Triunes.
It is decided finally to focus on Tuscany, not as significant to the Lombards as northern Italy, but much more vulnerable. An easier march for the Sicilians, the region was conquered by Theodoros Doukas, King Cesare’s father, less than thirty years ago. Many there still hanker for independence, or at the very least an overlord who is more lenient and particularly farther away. Those who feel that way also haven’t failed to notice the growing prosperity of Livorno in Roman hands.
Alessandro da Verrazano is a prominent and prosperous Florentine nobleman, having made a lot of money from investing in sugar plantations on St. Kitts, the pearl beds of Venezuela, the salt mines of Curacao, and the slave trade that keeps all of those running. Forty-five years old, he fought at the battle of Vaiano against the Lombards in 1603 as a standard bearer, a high honor for one so young. He walks with a slight limp, his right leg viciously scarred by saber wounds from a skirmish against Lombard cavalry five years later.
He and his family seem to have reconciled themselves to Lombard dominion, but the Verrazano family had been prominent in the Florentine administration when it was ruled by a cadet branch of the Wittelsbach family. It is not now. It is Lombard policy throughout most of their territory to keep the major local families, if not destroyed, at least outside of political office, while giving them free rein economically. Hopefully wealth will compensate for lack of power. Meanwhile local offices are aimed at mid-level families, those who couldn’t expect to reach their high station under local authority and so are loyal to their Lombard benefactors. That is the case with Gonfaloniere (regional governor of Florence) Tommaso Guadagni.
Verrazano’s wealth has not reconciled him to his lack of power. Since the accession of Andreas III he has been in contact with Hektor di Lecce-Komnenos, the paternal uncle of Andreas III who served as his regent in Sicily and became Despot Hektor I on his death. Nothing much had come of these talks; Hektor by himself could do nothing and Andreas III had his eye firmly fixed eastward with the goal of avenging the humiliation of the Eternal War.
Demetrios III, on the other hand, is much more interested. With Verrazano’s wealth and connections, he can create a powerful pro-Roman fifth column in Florence. With Siena, its rival, now in a sad state of decay with less than a quarter of Florence’s population, as Florence goes so will most of Tuscany. And Verrazano thinks that Despot Alessandro of Tuscany has a very nice ring to it.
The Sicilian field army, comprising 38 Sicilian, 6 Roman, and 1 Dalmatian (from the Duchy) tourmai, is ensconced in Ancona, commanded by Nikephoros Mytaras, a descendant of one of Alfredo di Lecce’s lieutenants from his days as an Apulian rebel. The family name, which in Greek means ‘big nose’, derives from that lieutenant with his large nasal capacity.
His first target is Urbino, which during the winter was partially blockaded by cavalry raiders. There is some hope that he might manage to convince the city to surrender without a fight. The Montefeltros are still well-respected in their former territories, and the cousins of the Drakos have done quite well for themselves in the Empire after being expelled by the Milanese back in the Time of Troubles. (Andreas II Drakos’ wife and the mother of Helena I was a Montefeltro, herself a descendant of an illegitimate daughter of Andreas Niketas). But it has been a hundred years since those days and so that hope quickly fades.
The new commander of the main Lombard field army, currently encamped around Florence, is the Duke of Parma, Niccolo Farnese. He is one of the premier nobles of Lombardy, although a relative parvenu, his family having come to prominence because of his great-uncle who was pontiff at the end of the 1500s. He was also one of the few major figures at the Lombard court who opposed the war with Rhomania, arguing that either Theodor would be defeated and drag Milan down with him or that he’d create a super-state that would eventually turn around and crush Lombardy. For wouldn’t the One Roman Emperor seek to add the old heartland of the Romans to his dominions?
Because of his ‘defeatist’ attitude, he was rejected as first choice for the commander of the main Lombard army, despite his substantial military experience. He fought as a junior officer in King Theodoros’ wars that brought Tuscany under Lombard rule; cavalry under his command were the ones who wounded Verrazano’s leg. He led the army that forced Ancona to kneel. Another credit is two naval victories against Barbary corsairs off Majorca and Sardinia, where he commanded the soldiers stationed on the ships.
Not given a post, he spent 1632 on his estates, predicting in general the Roman-Sicilian riposte to the Lombard declaration. At the end of 1632 Cesare recalled him to Milan and appointed him commander of the field army. While he does not expect to win the war (just before being recalled to Milan he predicted that Blucher’s army would either starve or be smashed to bits somewhere on the Thracian plain), his goal is to make the war as expensive and difficult for the Romans as possible. That way Lombardy may get off without making any concessions.
He would like to advance and give battle to the Sicilians but operations on the eastern side of the Apennines are difficult to support. The main highway there runs along the coast, within cannon range of any offshore warships, such as the half-dozen prowling on the approaches to Rimini. Therefore his supply lines would be wagon trains having to traverse mountain tracks. So instead he shifts south to Arezzo, sending cavalry to raid the Sicilians, but waiting for the Sicilians to come to him.
The Sicilians have a high-quality though fairly small artillery train, but Urbino’s fortifications are an early-gunpowder design. Three weeks in, the guns smash a storm-able breach in the defenses, at which point the garrison capitulates.
Moving west, the Sicilians face little opposition save for some annoying light infantry as they push through the Apennines. But as they debouch from the mountains near the commune of San Giustino, the Lombard army approaches in full battle array, 46000 strong compared to the 38000 that Nikephoros commands, although 18000 of the Lombards are new recruits with little training and poor equipment.
Despite being outnumbered, the Sicilians advance to attack, subjecting the Lombards to a fierce cannonade while forces try to work around the Lombard left flank. The Duke is wise to the danger, his cavalry parrying the blow and sending the would-be flankers back in disarray. But it has fixed the Duke’s attention squarely on his left.
The Strategos had expected the Lombards to attack him on his exit from the mountains, so he detached a flying column of three thousand cavalry and black horses before proceeding. They cross the Apennines, coming out near Citta di Castello twelve kilometers to the south of San Giustino. Immediately they swing north, riding hard, and pitch into the Lombard right flank with complete surprise. The men and horses are tired after their march, but the shock demoralizes the new Lombard soldiery which make up the reserve which counters their charge.
That aside, sheer numbers and freshness help make up for it, until Nikephoros reinforces them with troops from the main body. Hit by crashing musketry from both front and flank, they break. The Duke of Parma manages to extricate himself with his left wing and center largely intact, even succeeding in drawing away most of his guns, but his right wing is mangled. For three thousand casualties, the Sicilians doled out five thousand, plus another six thousand prisoners, mostly the new soldiers.
Now outnumbered, the Duke pulls back to Arezzo, but then withdraws further to the northwest to avoid being pinned up against the city. As the Sicilians begin digging parallels for the siege, he starts raiding their lines. Now the Sicilians are the ones having to deal with wagon trains over the mountains and Nikephoros has to commit a good portion of his cavalry to guarding the convoys. Although Lombard horse gets in some telling blows, enough gets through that along with forced requisitions from the surrounding countryside the siege proceeds, albeit slowly.
Reinforced with new recruits as well as siphoning from various garrisons in the north, the Duke returns to the attack to relieve the city but is unable to break the Sicilian army which parries his attacks until he retires. He has nothing to show for his eight thousand casualties save for fifty five hundred Sicilian ones, although he is able to draw off all of his artillery and banners. Upon the failure of the relief effort, Arezzo capitulates to Nikephoros.
After garrisoning it, he begins the march on Florence. At the same time, Roman naval forces intensify their raids on the Tuscan coast while the Livorno garrison sallies repeatedly against the Lombard siege lines. There’s no substantial aim behind these attacks, but are done to distract the Duke of Parma and hopefully split his forces. But the Duke is wise and refuses to cooperate.
Instead, after receiving another batch of reinforcements from Lombardy proper, he pivots south to Siena, hovering off Nikephoros’ left flank. If the Sicilians proceed north to Florence, he can swing behind them. Arezzo helps to anchor the Sicilian supply lines, but with Livorno still blockaded, preventing supply from the Tyrrhenian, it’d be a big gamble to let the main Lombard line loose to conduct mischief whilst attempting a siege of a city of 100,000 souls. Particularly after the Duke has stripped the Tuscan countryside to support his own army and deny them to the enemy.
Nikephoros is concerned, but also hopeful that he won’t have to siege Florence if Verrazano can open the gates. Unfortunately the Gonfaloniere Tommaso Guadagni discovers the conspiracy and moves to arrest Verrazano. Forewarned, he launches his rebellion early but the Sicilians are still encamped at Reggello, far too away to provide support. Street fighting erupts between the partisans of Verrazano and the supporters of the Gonfaloniere while Nikephoros force-marches to support the Florentine nobleman.
He is too late. Verrazano’s generalship does not equal his financial acumen and he is defeated, although he manages to cut his way out of the city with a good portion of his partisans, linking up with Nikephoros.
The situation is not ideal. The Duke of Parma is camped to the south, already swinging towards Arezzo. He can draw on supplies coming up from Latium, while a siege of Arezzo, even if he fails to take it, will still require the Sicilians to detour their own convoys, significantly lengthening their transit time. If Nikephoros splits off forces to open a line to Livorno, there will be an opening for the Duke to attack him while his forces are split. Furthermore, Florence is massive, the city bisected by the Arno River. Meaning that if Nikephoros wishes to seal up the city, he’ll have to split his forces anyway.
He lays siege just to the city south of the Arno for now; not all of Verrazano’s partisans have been arrested or expelled, so there is a decent chance he might still be able to take the city without a formal siege.
Meanwhile Nikephoros detaches 18 tourmai and hurls them at Livorno. With the Tuscan countryside stripped bare he really needs a supply line opened up promptly, but considering the difficulties in reducing Florence, he doesn’t want to abandon any chance of Verrazano’s partisans giving him an opening into the city.
Between the 18 tourmai and the garrison, which has been reinforced with four newly recruited tourma from the Morea (one is mostly comprised of Slavs from the Taygetos mountains), they brush aside the Lombard besieging force. But the bulk manage to escape, retiring to Pisa, ready to harass any Livorno-Florence convoys.
The Duke of Parma, after leaving a blocking force at Arezzo, charges north as soon as he hears word that the Sicilian army has split. In a sharp battle, he defeats the outnumbered two-to-one Sicilians, Nikephoros retreating westward to Livorno. Joining up with his detached force and the Roman garrison, he pivots back east. The Duke of Parma offers battle and they trade long-range cannonades for a day, but then Nikephoros retires westward again.
Right now he has 40,000 men under arms to the Duke’s 48,000 (he is receiving a steady trickle of new recruits from northern Italy and their equipment is improving), and he doesn’t see a way to successfully siege Florence while the Duke’s still in the field. He has to split his forces across the Arno; with the Duke controlling the city bridges that gives him a perfect opportunity to defeat him in detail again. Furthermore Pisa has 6500 troops as well, mostly militia or new conscripts, but still another threat that needs to be guarded against, meaning more splitting of his limited forces.
At the same time, the Duke of Parma is also stuck. If he uncovers Florence, Nikephoros can attack the city and if he takes it that would be a disaster; there’s still concern that not all of Verrazano’s partisans have been accounted. Yet he can’t destroy the Sicilian army. Encamped at Livorno it is covered by the fortifications and the guns of two dozen battle-line ships. So while the two spar and skirmish, the campaign falls into a stalemate, not broken even by news of the disasters to the Allied cause along the Danube.
Meanwhile to the northeast, while the Sicilians are setting up their siege lines at Urbino, a new commander arrives in Venetia, Tourmarch Andreas d’Este. That ancient family, like the Montefeltros, was expelled from Italy by the Milanese during the Time of Troubles, resettling with their Roman benefactors. The family has been largely Romanized in the passing century, but they still hold firmly to their distinguished name, again like the Montefeltros.
He would very much like to lead an invasion through the Alps into Bavaria, but with only four thousand regular troops and nine thousand militia, he doesn’t have the numbers he needs. So for now he raids, wreaking havoc across the countryside and bloodying the militia, already experienced from earlier raids. But while he ravages, he also notes the fruitfulness of the region. Perhaps the concerns about supply lines being cut by a Lombard force staging out of Verona are irrelevant. As long as the army isn’t too large, foraging should supply all needs, particularly since there isn’t any desire to be particularly pleasant to the peasants. And Bavaria is also rich and fertile, untouched by war since the days Germans and Hungarians dueled for the crown of Charlemagne.
Even so, he’d still need more men than he has, despite repeated requests to Constantinople along with his analyses and proposals. So instead he keeps up his raids, even occasionally sending a stab over at Croatia.
Usually his attacks are solely on civilian targets, with the occasional isolated outpost or patrol getting ambushed. There is one exception to this. While the Duke and Nikephoros settle down into impasse, d’Este and 1000 cavalry and black horses come upon a long string of 4000 Lombard infantry and 400 cavalry. Attacking with a fury, he scatters the Lombard horse. With the black horses dismounting and sniping at them with their muskets, the infantry are never able to properly organize and the Roman horse rolls them up. For 180 casualties (only 31 are fatalities on the field) he inflicted over 900 and took 1500 prisoners.
Compared to the slaughter on the Danube, it is a small matter, but nevertheless highly impressive. While occurring too late for anything to be done this year, it definitely makes Megas Domestikos Mouzalon and Emperor Demetrios III think this junior officer may be on to something in his propositions.
