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Guns, Paper, Printing, and Steel : The Guns of Byzantium

I've been thinking about this TL for a while and now that I have compiled more information of the Byzantine Empire I think I'm prepared to do it. I've always been fascinated with the great 4 inventions of China and have been thinking for a while what the impact on Europe might have been had they been discovered by the Europeans independently, or at least many centuries earlier than OTL. I'm hoping that this TL is a realistic take on such a world. The updates styles will be mixed up and vary considerably, some (like this first post) may center around a Roman point of view while others might center around the point of view of the Arabs, French, Germans, etcetera. The first of the inventions independently created in Europe is actually the last of the great four that were invented in China, gunpowder, which ITTL will be known as firepowder. The TL won't be updated regularly (just like most of my TL) and may go a month or more without a post. I sincerely hope that you enjoy the TL and am thankful in advance for any critiquing of the work that you put forward.



Guns, Paper, Printing, and Steel
By: E.T.R. Finley

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856 AD


Bardas Besieging Chandax

Bardas gazed from his vantage point upon the besieged city of Chandax. The reconquest of Crete would mark his greatest military achievement, and it looked that this would be achieved sooner rather than later. The screeching of hundreds of Roman Fire Arrows roared through the night, each illuminating the night with raining sparks and flashes of explosions. Every once and a while a thunderous explosion roared out with deafening strength. These massive explosions ate away at the wall of the defenders and placed the fear of god into the hearts of the infidel. These thunderous explosions came from large hollow balls of iron filled with firepowder. The oversized grenades were hurled from the naval based Onagers which acted in concert with the land based besiegers.



Roman Fire Arrows, fired at the Islamic city of Chandax

Traditional siege tools were still quite apparent on the battlefield, but Bardas’ pet projects took center stage. The success of the siege would prove to all that the future of siege warfare lay in firepowder. No longer would firepowder be relegated to a minor role on the battlefield. As the sound of manmade thunder roared through the night, Bardas envisioned more powerful and larger weapons that would be able to cleave through the walls of a city with minimal effort.

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The explosions that had died down as night went on had once again picked up with dawns first light. The deafening howls of the Roman Fire arrows tore into Emir Shuayb I ibn Umar’s very being. The unnatural weapons had done something to the men that defended the city that could not have been done by the weapons that the Romans normally wielded. The weapons had aided the Roman fleet in dispatching the fleet with unnatural speed and now tore into the walls that defended the city. Reports had come back to the Emir that the Roman troops wielded weapons that belched fire and iron pellets in a spray of death. The Emir had seen incendiary grenades before and even a few that made loud cracking noises, but never had he seen such unnatural and unnerving weapons as those that the Romans now used to besiege his city. It was as if the Romans had made a pact with a demon to master thunder itself and now used it as a weapon.


Roman Fire Vasi

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The air was ripe with the smell of blood and smoke as Abdul-Badi brought his great blade down upon one of the Roman soldiers who were pushing through the breech. The great blade struck the Roman where his neck met his shoulders and cleaved into him. In a flash the Arab defender pulled his blade from the fallen Roman and swung again, this time striking one of the Romans in his calf. Abdul was not alone, many of the other defenders of the city had been directed to the breech to try and prevent the Romans from streaming into the city, Emir Shuayb I ibn Umar was amongst the men fighting in the melee. As Abdul’s blade clashed against the blade of a Roman the Arab pirate saw a pomegranate shaped object fly through the air landing somewhere behind him. A sound of thunder roared out and Abdul fell to the ground. A Roman grenade had sent splinters of iron spraying outwards and a shard had struck Abdul’s lower spin. Abdul should have been in great pain from the fragments imbedded in his legs, but he felt nothing, not pain nor discomfort. Abdul was able to hear the cry from behind him that the Emir was dead. Though he could not feel the pain in his lower half he felt the pain of knowing that the Emir had fallen, and that the city would fall. Blood loss and shock took Abdul just moments before the Romans renewed their push through the breach. The Romans that made their way through the gaping wound in the city walls were not the first to enter, the Emir had sent to many troops to defend the breech and this had allowed Roman troops to ascend the walls and breech the city.

The city had fallen to the Romans and with it the other cities and forts of Crete that remained under Arab control would capitulate to Bardas. The Romans were not kind to the Arabs and Islamic Greeks of Chandax and indeed they laid waste to the city. Perhaps it is a great irony of life Bardas, Conqueror of Crete, would in short order be killed by the Emperor Michael III and the future Emperor Basil I, for it was fear that Bardas’ success and his popularity that led the Emperor and Basil to fear the great general and ultimately conspire to bring about his downfall.

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The Roman Empire is the oldest state in European history, founded in 27 BC it survives to the present day as one of the mightiest Great powers. The long history of Roman Empire is the history of an empire that has expanded and receded with time. By the end of the 5th century the Roman light had gone out in Western Europe and only the Eastern half remained. Under the Emperor Justinian I the Empire would regain North Africa and Italy, and even part of Southern Spain. The rise of the Islamic Caliphate would shrink the Empire to its smallest extent since the Roman Republic. Until the 9th century the Empire would largely be on the defensive against the Arab Caliphate in the East and the Slavs and Bulgars in the West. The ninth century would see the empire once again expand and reclaim lands lost. Perhaps one of the most effective tools put to use in the Roman arsenal during the Roman reconquest was firepowder. The explosive substance that would later be independently discovered in China holds its roots in the Roman Empire during the rule of the Emperor Theophilus . Like the formula for Roman Fire, which would sadly be lost to history, the formula for firepowder would be a closely guarded secret. After seeing a demonstration of the firepowder in the form of firefountain and minor explosives the Emperor Theophilus poored a great deal of money into the further development of the formula. One of the earliest uses of firepowder as a weapon was in the form of grenades.

These explosive grenades were quite different from their incendiary counterpart, and were more stable and more easily employed. These primitive explosive grenades, while certainly lethal made little difference in the great struggle between the Roman Empire and the Arab Caliphates. The Arabs attempted to replicate Roman Grenades, but their incendiary petroleum-based grenades were as close as they would come to replicating the effects of the firepowder grenade. Firepowder would not truly come into its own until the early 9th century. This is thanks in no small part to Bardas and Emperor Michael III. The last member of the Phrygian Dynasty to rule over the Roman Empire, Michael would rise to the throne at the age of three, and a regency would govern over the Empire until a coup put an end to the rule of his mother and Theoktistos. After an incident in 844, where a storage room filled with firepowder exploded, killing at least a hundred, Bardas became evermore attracted to the destructive potential of firepowder. The study of perfecting the formula and creating a better delivery system became heavily subsidized by Bardas and the empire. Where Greek fire had failed to become a wonder weapon that would make the Roman Navy invincible, Bardas hoped that firepowder would succeed.

In 846 the Roman Fire Arrow was borne. The Roman Fire Arrow was the first rocket in mechanism and design and this primitive design consisted of a pouch of firepowder with a stick attached; the arrows being launched from a stand. This primitive rocket was primarily used against the Bulgarian barbarians but would see action against the Arabs in the East and in Sicily. The Roman Fire Arrow, was first used as a single projectile, but soon it was determined that in order to be effective the weapon needed to be deployed in salvoes from launch platforms such as arrays of cylinders or boxes which could hold as many as 1,000 fire arrows each. The Roman Fire Arrow was not the only early firepowder weapon. With the increase in the explosive capabilities of the formula for firepowder oversized iron grenades launched from Onagers became a logical step forward as a siege weapon. Another early firepowder weapon that would give rise to the great siege cannons as well as hand held firearms was the Fire Vasi. The Fire Vasi was a bronze or wood tube that once the fire powder was ignited would fire out iron pellets. The weapon was not that effective in practicality, but its role as a psychological weapon and a stepping stone marked it quite important in the grand scheme of things.

In 859, the nineteen year old emperor and his uncle Bardas decided to campaign against the Paulicians and the Emir of Melitene, Umar. When they arrived in enemy territory, they came before the city of Samosata. The Saracen forces that defended the powerful city feigned cowardice and shut themselves behind the walls of the great city to catch the Roman off guard, but they had not counted on Burdas’ siege weapons. Trapped within the walls of the city, the Saracens faced an onslaught of Roman Fire Arrows and Onager tossed explosives. The Roman force’s overconfidence would almost lead to its own downfall when three days into the siege the Saracens threw open the gates and charged out, fully armed, attacking the Romans. The attack by the fought off barely, and was likely only turned back because of the confusion and psychological fear factor of the Roman fire arrows used against the Saracen warriors. The failed attack depleted the forces defending the city and resulted in the Emperor Michael III taking the whole matter much more seriously. A relief army of Saracens and Paulicians numbering nearly 10,000 strong and led by Umar’s son forced Michael and Bardas to withdraw back to the confines of the Empire. Though firepowder did not give the Romans victory it had proved that is was a useful tool in battle and would gain more support from the Emperor. Bardas’ firepowder siege weapons would prove invaluable in his last great achievement, the reconquest of Crete, the adoption of the Roman Fire Arrow as a naval weapon and a defensive weapon would also aid in staving off the attacks by the Varangians in June of 860.

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