Darkness before Dawn - Purple Phoenix 1416
- Thread starter elerosse
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Idk how much the ERE fielded otl but it should be more than otl since Thessaloniki joined ittl.
I think generally speaking the Eastern European countries - including the Balkan ones, have a different cavalry composition to their Western counterparts. Due to the nomadic influence and the fact that they constantly face against light cavalries, they have a far greater amount of light calvalry in their units, which costs significantly less to train, equip or maintain compared to the heavier cavalries in Western Europe - not to say there are no heavy calvalries in the East, they have penty, its just that light cavalries had a bigger role and counts for more - as the result I would argue that it is plausible for ERE to field some 1500 horses, since they can draw from large Turkic mercenary pool - not many of them are heavily armored however.
Chapter 10 – A Long Blockade
Chapter 10 – A Long Blockade
Andronikos awakes upon his bed inside his tent. As his sense recovers, he feels aching in his whole body, and extreme pain from his left thigh. To ease the pain, Andronikos slightly changes his position. An elder man notices his movement, lays down a bowl of herbal medicine, and comes over to Andronikos.
“My dear Despot, you have been saved by God. It is truly a miracle that cannon ball didn’t kill you on spot and only left you with a broken thigh bone.”
With a heavy head, still confused, Andronikos asks: “What have happened? Did we win the fight?”
“It has been two days since the battle my Despot, our men successfully repulsed the Latin charge, but the cannon fire has prevented us from capturing the castle. The Latin flag still flies above unfortunately.”
Andronikos sighs slightly, not sure what to feel – he feels lucky that he survived, while at the same time is disappointed by not being able to take the castle.
“I thank you for your care, mister?”
“Plethon, my Despot.”
Andronikos raises his eyes in surprise. He has never anticipated to meet his old pen pal in such circumstance. “Looks like I owe you my life twice now.”
Plethon smiles gently: “It may be so, but you will need a good amount of rest before the final edict on your health is given. Now take the medicine, it helps the bone heal.”
In the next few weeks, Andronikos could only receive guests in his tent, while patiently waiting for his thigh to heal. The medicine by Plethon obviously works, as Andronikos feels better by the day.
The siege of Glarentza on the other hand has slow down to a standstill. Unable to neutralize the enemy cannons on the walls, The Roman leadership is unwilling to put the lives of their precious soldier under fire for little to no progress. Either the Roman finds a way to silence the cannons, or they have to make a decision to suffer intolerable amounts of casualties, or they can opt to starve the enemy into submission.
The Romans have chosen the last course of action.
And so, as Andronikos slowly heals, the Roman wait in their camp, watching idly as their supplies slowly dwindles, hoping they can outlast the defenders before their own supply runs out.
5th May, Andronikos moves slowly into the tent for his first war council. He is greeted warmly by his brethren and Strategos, praised for his bravery and sacrifice.
After a while, when the attendants finally all sit down, Co-emperor Ioannes clears his throat with a cough and begins to introduce the meeting. “I have summoned this war council, because of our grave position. Enemy are still hiding behind their walls, all the while the morale of our soldier slowly slides away. In just four days I have received a dozen report of cases of drunkenness, brawl, disobedience. The situation will only worsen, soon our fighting spirit, our discipline will be lost in dull and purposeless waiting. If that happens, our boys will not survive another enemy cavalry charge.”
“The result will be catastrophic to our campaign! I will not have it!” Ioannes slams his fist onto the table. He looks around for a bit, his sight landing on Leontares.
“Tell them your plan Leontares.”
Leontares stands up after Ioannes sits down. “As you wish my Excellency. We are facing a dangerous situation my comrades, our discipline has to be restored before it is all too late, therefore I propose to send out an inspection squad regularly around camp, to mediate conflict and punish anyone who breaches the martial law.”
“As regarding the Glarentza, we cannot place our hope solely on the appetite of our enemy. We must actively harass them, make them struggle, let us put extra pressure on their minds and provisions. Fake assault for instance, sapping efforts, loud noises at night, things that keep our men busy and keeps our enemy on his feet.”
“The ground beneath the castle is very hard, sapping effort would take a lot of time, but if we can disguise in such way so it appears that we make steady progress each day, it will certainly create great angst and fear among enemy ranks.”
Illustration of medieval sapping effort.
“My dear Strategos, how should we deal with enemy cannons that certainly will wreak havoc on our sappers?” Strategos Demetrios asks unconvinced.
“By building this.” Andronikos jumps into the discussion, and places a model of a small wooden pallisade on the table.
“Maester Plethon has through calculation of the range of the cannon and the width of its impact determined its rough power. If we fill bags with sand, and place them on top of moveable wooden palisade, it will sufficiently cushion the impact and safely protect our sappers.”
Clearly, Ioannes, Leontares and Andronikos have planned for this in advance. With no objection, the Romans strives to bring down Glarentza through cunning and deception.
Andronikos awakes upon his bed inside his tent. As his sense recovers, he feels aching in his whole body, and extreme pain from his left thigh. To ease the pain, Andronikos slightly changes his position. An elder man notices his movement, lays down a bowl of herbal medicine, and comes over to Andronikos.
“My dear Despot, you have been saved by God. It is truly a miracle that cannon ball didn’t kill you on spot and only left you with a broken thigh bone.”
With a heavy head, still confused, Andronikos asks: “What have happened? Did we win the fight?”
“It has been two days since the battle my Despot, our men successfully repulsed the Latin charge, but the cannon fire has prevented us from capturing the castle. The Latin flag still flies above unfortunately.”
Andronikos sighs slightly, not sure what to feel – he feels lucky that he survived, while at the same time is disappointed by not being able to take the castle.
“I thank you for your care, mister?”
“Plethon, my Despot.”
Andronikos raises his eyes in surprise. He has never anticipated to meet his old pen pal in such circumstance. “Looks like I owe you my life twice now.”
Plethon smiles gently: “It may be so, but you will need a good amount of rest before the final edict on your health is given. Now take the medicine, it helps the bone heal.”
In the next few weeks, Andronikos could only receive guests in his tent, while patiently waiting for his thigh to heal. The medicine by Plethon obviously works, as Andronikos feels better by the day.
The siege of Glarentza on the other hand has slow down to a standstill. Unable to neutralize the enemy cannons on the walls, The Roman leadership is unwilling to put the lives of their precious soldier under fire for little to no progress. Either the Roman finds a way to silence the cannons, or they have to make a decision to suffer intolerable amounts of casualties, or they can opt to starve the enemy into submission.
The Romans have chosen the last course of action.
And so, as Andronikos slowly heals, the Roman wait in their camp, watching idly as their supplies slowly dwindles, hoping they can outlast the defenders before their own supply runs out.
5th May, Andronikos moves slowly into the tent for his first war council. He is greeted warmly by his brethren and Strategos, praised for his bravery and sacrifice.
After a while, when the attendants finally all sit down, Co-emperor Ioannes clears his throat with a cough and begins to introduce the meeting. “I have summoned this war council, because of our grave position. Enemy are still hiding behind their walls, all the while the morale of our soldier slowly slides away. In just four days I have received a dozen report of cases of drunkenness, brawl, disobedience. The situation will only worsen, soon our fighting spirit, our discipline will be lost in dull and purposeless waiting. If that happens, our boys will not survive another enemy cavalry charge.”
“The result will be catastrophic to our campaign! I will not have it!” Ioannes slams his fist onto the table. He looks around for a bit, his sight landing on Leontares.
“Tell them your plan Leontares.”
Leontares stands up after Ioannes sits down. “As you wish my Excellency. We are facing a dangerous situation my comrades, our discipline has to be restored before it is all too late, therefore I propose to send out an inspection squad regularly around camp, to mediate conflict and punish anyone who breaches the martial law.”
“As regarding the Glarentza, we cannot place our hope solely on the appetite of our enemy. We must actively harass them, make them struggle, let us put extra pressure on their minds and provisions. Fake assault for instance, sapping efforts, loud noises at night, things that keep our men busy and keeps our enemy on his feet.”
“The ground beneath the castle is very hard, sapping effort would take a lot of time, but if we can disguise in such way so it appears that we make steady progress each day, it will certainly create great angst and fear among enemy ranks.”
Illustration of medieval sapping effort.
“My dear Strategos, how should we deal with enemy cannons that certainly will wreak havoc on our sappers?” Strategos Demetrios asks unconvinced.
“By building this.” Andronikos jumps into the discussion, and places a model of a small wooden pallisade on the table.
“Maester Plethon has through calculation of the range of the cannon and the width of its impact determined its rough power. If we fill bags with sand, and place them on top of moveable wooden palisade, it will sufficiently cushion the impact and safely protect our sappers.”
Clearly, Ioannes, Leontares and Andronikos have planned for this in advance. With no objection, the Romans strives to bring down Glarentza through cunning and deception.
I hope all wars against the Latins will leave the Romans secure, I can't wait for the Ottomans to be kicked out of Europe. I wonder how long the Anatolian Reconquest will be. The butterflies from a Roman resurgence will be interesting. Will Rhomania be Orthodox or will we see a Catholic merging of the churches?
Shudder! I hope the empire sticks with Orthodoxy. I don't mind cooperation with Catholics, but honestly I don't want to see the empire submitted to the Papacy.
I understand the feeling, no kingdom liked the power and influence the Pope had. I honestly feel that any major headway Rhomania wants to make into Anatolia is going the require some papal calls for a crusade. Maybe the Catholic Church will allow for some religious concessions? I'd feel the Pope would milk it for all he can, he gets to be known as the Pope who brought the heretical Romans back to the true faith and caused an empire on it's last knees to rebound back to glory.
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All of that and probably the Romans had even more reasons for not liking that development, considering previous grievances against Latins and the role played by their empire in kickstarting the whole thing.
A crusade is likely, after all one took place 30 years after the POD. I feel like this timeline is basically trying to strengthen the empire enough to be able to contribute to alt-Varna and tip the balance of power in favour of the Christians. But that is something only the author really knows. Most likely though, such crusade would be aimed at the Balkans, not Anatolia.
Schismatics. In the eyes of the of the Catholics, the Romans were schismatics but not heretics (same the other way around). They agreed on Nicaea, Chalcedon and all other ecumenical councils. Their differences were "political" rather than on the matter of dogma and faith (barring probably some issues such as the purgatory and the filioque).
Fine by me. Once the help of Rome is no longer needed the Romans should just drop all pretenses of paying attention to its bishop.
So just a recommendation but a mix of pov chapters and chapters written like they are history books is in my opinion the best way to write this type of timeline since the history book chapters will move the timeline forwards and the pov chapters helps us understand the people in the timeline. But still good to have you back.
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 – Cracks from Within
The life may be awful outside the walls of Glarentza, but the situation is hardly any better inside the walls – everything from food down to water is under strict rationing, walls must be continually manned, and the constant harassment and distraction made by the Roman besieger put a constant stress on the Latin defenders. To keep the morale, Centurione II Zaccaria showers his knights and men-at-arms with rich gifts and generous promises, swearing to double their fiefs once they repulse the Romans. As for placating the representative of the Giustianiani family who controls the port of Glarentza, which Centurione was forced to sell during his first war with Theodoros the Despot of Morea in 1408, he promises expanded trade right after the war.
Coat of Arms of the Giustianiani– A prominent family from both Venice and Genoa who maintained a de facto independence as lord of Chios. The
The failure of the first assault by the Roman provided a small boost of morale to the defenders, giving Centurione additional hope to hold out. The next few weeks after the initial assault were calm and eventless, until the guards on the watchtower bring a novel development to Centurione.
“The Romans did what?”
“Milord, you must see for yourself.”
Centurione steps upon the top of his watchtower, and to his astonishment sees the Romans have set up four camps close to the ditches which have been filled during the initial assault. Large canvases hide the camps from the sun and direct observation from the walls of Glarentza, but the countless laborers moving in and out of the camps gives a hint on the purpose of these camps.
Centurione observes carefully the camps, he soon discovers that the laborers that enter the camps all have with them digging tools and equipment, while the ones exiting the camps have heavy bags on their backs. During one of such trips, a laborer slips and falls, his bag falling to the ground revealing sands and dirt.
“This is impossible!” Centurione is no stranger to warfare, he instantly understands the Roman purpose, sapping - to dig a tunnel beneath the earth and towards the walls of Glarentza. What he finds surprising however, is that Glarentza is situated is on layers of hard gravel, which would in most cases render sapping impossible.
“Prepare the cannons!”
Not soon after Centurione’s order, the two cannons open fire upon the Roman camps. To the disappointment of the defenders, the cannon balls fall short of distance. The Romans have learned the range of the cannons during their first assault, and has set their camp accordingly.
While Centurione is furious at the range of his cannons, the trade representative of the Giustiniani sets his foot on the watchtower: “My good lord Centurione, I have heard the Greeks have begun sapping, is it true?”
“It is but gimmicks, the ground beneath us is all gravel, they will be foolish to continue digging. Soon they will waste their manpower and provision, all for nothing.” Centurione tries to calm the representative with words – the man may be sly in business, but is a complete stranger in warfare. So, when he receives the reassuring words from Centurione, he can only take them for granted.
For the next couple of weeks, all eyes on the walls of Glarentza are fixated on the Roman camps – The more dirt and sand are carried out each single day, the more worrying the mood becomes. In the meantime, the Latins have tried many ways to disrupt Roman progress with faint attacks, cannon fire, or cavalry charges. All attempts failed, only leaving more wounded and demoralized soldiers. The veterans all know what it means when the Romans successfully dig their way to the walls – the walls will certainly collapse, and they will be overwhelmed by the attackers. The Latins have tried to dig their own tunnel to counter Roman sapping efforts, but to their dismay the ground surrounding their castle is indeed of gravel, making their digging effort fruitless.
“How can the Greeks continue to dig on gravel? It doesn’t make any sense!!?” Centurione is visibly frustrated by the Roman progress – a massive mound of dirt has been assembled next to the Roman camps, making everyone know the huge progress they have made over the past three weeks.
“Maybe…they found a path between the gravels?” the representative in opposition to Centurione looks calm and steady.
“It can’t be, it must be some tricks!” Centurione refuses to believe what he sees. He turns his face towards the representative, speaking as calm as he could: “We will hold the castle, the Greeks will have no business in Glarentza! Do not forget that if the barbaric Greeks take Glarentza, they will revoke all trade privileges given to Giustinianis, privileges which I have granted.”
“Of course, my lord, we are all on the same boat.” The representative bows courtly and leaves the walls. On his way down, one of his servants comes close to his ear and whispers: “a small boat has approached the harbor during the night, a messenger wants to see you.”
The representative nods slightly.
Next day, as Centurione finishes his morning routine with a prayer in the chapel and walks outside, he is suddenly confronted by a dozen of his knights, all clad in armor. Guessing that they have come to petition for a frontal attack, Centurione walks towards them with a smile: “I appreciate your valor…”
“Lord Centurione, we have come to petition…”
“I know, I know, but you must be…”
“For a negotiated surrender.”
“Patient. ……What?”
Centurione is in shock, he couldn’t believe what he just heard. The knights surround him, then opens a small pathway, and the representative suddenly appears and walks straight to Centurione with a faint smile.
“My lord, I know you have fought valiantly, which I admire. Unfortunately, the situation has become untenable. The Greeks… The Romans have completed their sapping, and they can blow up our walls any minutes, and slaughter us all effortlessly. Fortunately, the Romans send their proposal for surrender yesterday, and it is indeed a generous one: If we surrender now, the Romans will spare our lives, we can keep all our weapons, and all belongings which can be moved by foot. The Roman will in addition carry us into the realm of Count Tocco. We therefore strongly urge you to accept such offer of peace.”
“YOU… Traitors!” the veins of Centurione are all exposed by the anger, his face glowing red. He reaches for his sword in subconscious, but finds the left side of his belt empty. He then remembers he left his sword at the gate of the chapel.
“Traitor, what harsh words my lord. But you see, you misunderstands us, we, all of us, only wishes to safeguard your security. None of us wants to see you perish in a hopeless fight.”
Centurione looks around, and to his despair only sees faces cold as stone. He knows all is lost, his men have decided to surrender, and there is nothing he could do.
“Alas, I give my consent.”
“Wise choice my Lord. Tell the Romans that we accept their terms and surrender.”
On 28th of May, 1417, a sunny morning, the last holding of the County of Achaea, the mighty castle of Glarentza surrender to the Romans.
The life may be awful outside the walls of Glarentza, but the situation is hardly any better inside the walls – everything from food down to water is under strict rationing, walls must be continually manned, and the constant harassment and distraction made by the Roman besieger put a constant stress on the Latin defenders. To keep the morale, Centurione II Zaccaria showers his knights and men-at-arms with rich gifts and generous promises, swearing to double their fiefs once they repulse the Romans. As for placating the representative of the Giustianiani family who controls the port of Glarentza, which Centurione was forced to sell during his first war with Theodoros the Despot of Morea in 1408, he promises expanded trade right after the war.
Coat of Arms of the Giustianiani– A prominent family from both Venice and Genoa who maintained a de facto independence as lord of Chios. The
The failure of the first assault by the Roman provided a small boost of morale to the defenders, giving Centurione additional hope to hold out. The next few weeks after the initial assault were calm and eventless, until the guards on the watchtower bring a novel development to Centurione.
“The Romans did what?”
“Milord, you must see for yourself.”
Centurione steps upon the top of his watchtower, and to his astonishment sees the Romans have set up four camps close to the ditches which have been filled during the initial assault. Large canvases hide the camps from the sun and direct observation from the walls of Glarentza, but the countless laborers moving in and out of the camps gives a hint on the purpose of these camps.
Centurione observes carefully the camps, he soon discovers that the laborers that enter the camps all have with them digging tools and equipment, while the ones exiting the camps have heavy bags on their backs. During one of such trips, a laborer slips and falls, his bag falling to the ground revealing sands and dirt.
“This is impossible!” Centurione is no stranger to warfare, he instantly understands the Roman purpose, sapping - to dig a tunnel beneath the earth and towards the walls of Glarentza. What he finds surprising however, is that Glarentza is situated is on layers of hard gravel, which would in most cases render sapping impossible.
“Prepare the cannons!”
Not soon after Centurione’s order, the two cannons open fire upon the Roman camps. To the disappointment of the defenders, the cannon balls fall short of distance. The Romans have learned the range of the cannons during their first assault, and has set their camp accordingly.
While Centurione is furious at the range of his cannons, the trade representative of the Giustiniani sets his foot on the watchtower: “My good lord Centurione, I have heard the Greeks have begun sapping, is it true?”
“It is but gimmicks, the ground beneath us is all gravel, they will be foolish to continue digging. Soon they will waste their manpower and provision, all for nothing.” Centurione tries to calm the representative with words – the man may be sly in business, but is a complete stranger in warfare. So, when he receives the reassuring words from Centurione, he can only take them for granted.
For the next couple of weeks, all eyes on the walls of Glarentza are fixated on the Roman camps – The more dirt and sand are carried out each single day, the more worrying the mood becomes. In the meantime, the Latins have tried many ways to disrupt Roman progress with faint attacks, cannon fire, or cavalry charges. All attempts failed, only leaving more wounded and demoralized soldiers. The veterans all know what it means when the Romans successfully dig their way to the walls – the walls will certainly collapse, and they will be overwhelmed by the attackers. The Latins have tried to dig their own tunnel to counter Roman sapping efforts, but to their dismay the ground surrounding their castle is indeed of gravel, making their digging effort fruitless.
“How can the Greeks continue to dig on gravel? It doesn’t make any sense!!?” Centurione is visibly frustrated by the Roman progress – a massive mound of dirt has been assembled next to the Roman camps, making everyone know the huge progress they have made over the past three weeks.
“Maybe…they found a path between the gravels?” the representative in opposition to Centurione looks calm and steady.
“It can’t be, it must be some tricks!” Centurione refuses to believe what he sees. He turns his face towards the representative, speaking as calm as he could: “We will hold the castle, the Greeks will have no business in Glarentza! Do not forget that if the barbaric Greeks take Glarentza, they will revoke all trade privileges given to Giustinianis, privileges which I have granted.”
“Of course, my lord, we are all on the same boat.” The representative bows courtly and leaves the walls. On his way down, one of his servants comes close to his ear and whispers: “a small boat has approached the harbor during the night, a messenger wants to see you.”
The representative nods slightly.
Next day, as Centurione finishes his morning routine with a prayer in the chapel and walks outside, he is suddenly confronted by a dozen of his knights, all clad in armor. Guessing that they have come to petition for a frontal attack, Centurione walks towards them with a smile: “I appreciate your valor…”
“Lord Centurione, we have come to petition…”
“I know, I know, but you must be…”
“For a negotiated surrender.”
“Patient. ……What?”
Centurione is in shock, he couldn’t believe what he just heard. The knights surround him, then opens a small pathway, and the representative suddenly appears and walks straight to Centurione with a faint smile.
“My lord, I know you have fought valiantly, which I admire. Unfortunately, the situation has become untenable. The Greeks… The Romans have completed their sapping, and they can blow up our walls any minutes, and slaughter us all effortlessly. Fortunately, the Romans send their proposal for surrender yesterday, and it is indeed a generous one: If we surrender now, the Romans will spare our lives, we can keep all our weapons, and all belongings which can be moved by foot. The Roman will in addition carry us into the realm of Count Tocco. We therefore strongly urge you to accept such offer of peace.”
“YOU… Traitors!” the veins of Centurione are all exposed by the anger, his face glowing red. He reaches for his sword in subconscious, but finds the left side of his belt empty. He then remembers he left his sword at the gate of the chapel.
“Traitor, what harsh words my lord. But you see, you misunderstands us, we, all of us, only wishes to safeguard your security. None of us wants to see you perish in a hopeless fight.”
Centurione looks around, and to his despair only sees faces cold as stone. He knows all is lost, his men have decided to surrender, and there is nothing he could do.
“Alas, I give my consent.”
“Wise choice my Lord. Tell the Romans that we accept their terms and surrender.”
On 28th of May, 1417, a sunny morning, the last holding of the County of Achaea, the mighty castle of Glarentza surrender to the Romans.
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