Manuel Komenos 1 focuses on Turks & Ease

trajen777

Banned
Thanks for your comments -- yes love the Byz empire and specifically the many alt history options -- Maurice - Manizkert - Basil 2 has a son / assigns a comp ruler - Yarmuk


Anyway I though of him securing Anatolia then going west -- however i think the hostility from Venice - HRE - Papacy - etc would create so many negative alternatives that at least one secure front was important. The peace with Normans (for now) the continued vs aborted drive vs Zengi -- the peace with Raymond which leaves Edessa stronger -- seems things just flow.

Anyway thanks for your suggestions -- will look at logistics thanks
 

trajen777

Banned
The central division, Conrads Germans was unaware of the disaster that had struck the French to the north. The French refugees swept back towards the coast not towards the Germans. As the Germans moved forward they begin to meet increasing numbers of horse archers. The Turks were able to move significant parts of their army to the flank and front of the German forces. At the same time the Byz southern most force reached the outskirts of Damascus and set up the initial camp. Using its Hungarian outriders and LC from the crusader forces it began to sweep the Turkish LC further and further back. The fortification of the camp was progressing and water and food sources were secured. They begin to recon the Turkish fortifications, and begin to put the siege equipment together.
Scouts were sent to try and find the French and German divisions. And the engineers begin to develop a plan for the siege.
 

trajen777

Banned
Word reached Manuel mid - morning that the Germans were under a massive attack 7 miles north east of the outside of the Byz / Crusader picket lines. Looking at the situation he thought for a quick second if he should respond, immediately attack Damascus which he realized would be lightly defended if the Germans were in that difficulty. After pondering for a few minutes he orders his generals to council. He chose the following force to prepare for march in 30 minutes. But first he ordered 1/3 of his LC to block any scouts from the city in that he needed to divide his forces to aid the Germans. Secondly he ordered 1/3 of his LC to move immediately forward to assess the ground between his force and the Germans and set up a corridor for the main force to advance. He chose the following force to move out.
• 500 Longbow men on mules
• 1200 Byz Cal
• 500 HI on mules
• 200 Knights Templar
• 800 Hungarian LC
• 1500 Byz infrantry on mules
• 800 Merc Cav
• 250 Byz H C
• 1200 Vargarians & Manuel
The travel time would be est at three hours to meet up with the German force.

The Turks had again hit the top of the German forces meeting their force by the u shape at the top of the line. Unlike the French the Germans held together and did not separate their Cav from their archers. Because of the nature of the ground they were only able to bring 20% of their force to bear while the Turks brought up to 60% of their total force with another 20% firing over the first lines heads to cause disorder.
(-----------
As the Germans fought on inflicting moderate losses on the Turks the back ranks begin to panic as the Turks seemed to be everywhere. As the afternoon wore on the Turkish Infantry approached (very tired) from the north. At the same time the initial Byz LC appeared from the South west. The LC instead of attacking right away kept the flanks and front free of Turks so the steady approach of the Allied forces could prepare as a united force.
The first to arrive were the Longbow men and the pike and infantry. They spread out as more and more Turks attacked to keep their flank open. The Hungarian LC moved forward to provide room between the forces. Finally the Byz HC / MC and the Templars were deployed to the Western flank. On a gentle slope the Byz MC fired their three arrows as they charged heel to heel with the Templars and Merc HC. The Longbow men fired an arrow storm at the Turks in their way clearing a path as the Allied forces crashed into the Turkish reserve. The Turks were at the same time assaulted from the front by the German Van HC. The Turk forces were split in two with the Southern , central and reserve forces destroyed.

The celebrating Allies marched back to Damascus and encamped. Damascus surrendered one week later. The booty was massive as it was agreed that most of the crusaders would return home . Remaining behind were:
• 1500 French
• 8000 Germans
• 1200 Merc remained behind
IN the major battle Manuel and the Leader of the German Van – Barbarossa (soon to be king) made a friendship welded by blood. Manuel came away as a well-respected leader. It was decided that a German leader would be made prince of Damascus. At the same time Melisende the queen regent of Baldwin the 3rd sat with her advisors and Manuel and begin some long ranging discussions.
 

trajen777

Banned
After spending some time in Jerusalem spending freely on church rehabilitation Manuel left detachments in Damascus and then marched his troops to Antioch. From their Manuel disbanded the thematic troops departing by sea with the Vagarian guard. The remaining Tagmatic troops begin the march back to their forts.

Upon arriving in Constantinople a Triumph was held for the eastern victories. In addition the winter was spent in a well-earned rest. As late winter and early spring came about it was decided that major campaigns would be held for 1 – 2years. Instead the focus would be on continuing the de-Turkification of Anatolia, or at least improving the Reconquista methods.
The success and failures were reviewed in depth. The basic plan had been to use wide ranging units of mounted archers and lancers to strike out at the soft targets (sheep, villages, and farmland) that the Turkish warriors used to maintain their forces with. Secondary units would follow up (INf – Cal – farmers) to establish watch towers and forts to minimize the Turkish movements and retake valuable land. Each year New Thematic units and territory would be incorporated into the empire. The plan had been successful but it was found that changes could be made to improve the tactics. Following in the normal tradition of the Roman / Byz treaties were written to better educate the troops and unit commanders.
Throughout the winter the plans were honed so that in the spring the following tactics were to be deployed:
1. Experienced themeatic troops were to be the units moved forward to occupy the new conquests – in the past these experienced units would be left into the west while newer units of thematic troops were moved forward to occupy the land. The losses of these less experienced troops were very high. The now plan would be the Thematic farms in the Western portions were enlarged to support mult – families. As the Western troops would be shuffled forward they would get a portion of the revenue received from these farms (rest going to the state or to support Tagmatic troops) and still receive the new farms in the east that were being carved out. The Thematic troops would be supported by additional farmers or family on these lands so that they could dedicate more time to fighting. In this way the more experienced fighters were always at the cutting edge reducing losses by their better skills.
2. Merc troops (Pechenges – Cumans) would be hired for deep penetration raids of devastation to further force the Turkish shepherds and villages to be pushed further back from the eastward moving frontier.
3. The deep raider Byz troops would be focused the same as before to find fortress spots, watch towers, and to attack Turkish LC, and any villages that escaped the Merc troops.
4. The Byz LC was divided into groups for 1000 with sub units of 50 ranging far and wide. When they groups of 50 made contact with superior forces they would retreat backward towards the larger 1000 units. If the forces of the Turkish forces still outnumber the units of 1000 the Byz would withdraw toward the following mixed INf and LC troops that would be set into defiles. The Byz Inf archers would then focus on killing the Turkish horses until that time when the Byz LC could counter attack the diminished Turkish LC.
5. After gaining a reasonable amount of territory a watchtower or fort would be established from which Byz forces would establish the new frontier.
6. The new front would receive a fort – at distances from the fort regular LC would patrol – and as the territory came ever closer to the new front strongholds or fortified watch towers would be established. From these watchtowers regular patrols and raiders would begin to strike out at the surrounding Turkish territory. Further out spy’s and scouts would range to find new targets.
7. After establishing a Theme or a number of Themes or 10,000 troops, a fortress would be established with 3000 regular troops. Quarterly 2500 Thematic troops would be assigned to the 3000 regular troops to form up a unit of 5500 men. This unit would expand the training, fitness, and campaign on the larger targets identified from the scouts and rangers.
This then was the ongoing plan of the era of Reconquista that was established for a controlled expansion, while at the same time finding a way to better keep the Thematic troops in training and provide a steady strike force. The individual Thematic active force of 5500 could be combined together to form 11,000 – 16,500 men armies. These larger units would then have assigned Tagmatic units of up to 12,500 troops. Armies above this were found to be unwieldy for fighting the Turkish forces.
 

trajen777

Banned
Manuel in the spring put all of the work that had been created in the improvement of the Themes. Troops were better lead, defensive positions were improved and the Turkish forces were kept off balance. IN the European affairs things remained on the positive balance sheet.
A. The Normans continued to increase trade with a neutral Byz
B. Germans - after the Crusade took away a good liking of the Byz success outside of Damascus and founded upon their conflicts with the northern Italian states as well as consolidation in the German States.
C. Venice continued to be a growing pain in its side however with the wars going on around it and the firm entrenchment of the Crusader states their economic development was limited.
D. Naval -- For right it was a focus to build more ships and at the same time look for improvement in fighting vessels -
E. Crusader State -- the Opportunity presented itself to perhaps take a queen that would better cement - create a union - create a union / feudal opportunity (i am thinking along the lines of the HRE with Austria being the family lands of the Hapsburg -- But with Byz playing the Hapsburg lands and the HRE playing the Crusader states) between the Byz empire and the Crusader states.
F. Egypt -- This was the goal for the future.

From an economic situation the increased Trade with the Normans, the secure valleys in Anatolia, the increased raiding economy, the additional pasture land captured from the Turks, the capture of important cities in the East, and their subsequent trade left the Byz in an excellent position. The land tax was growing, Trade was increasing, as security increased so did investment.
 

trajen777

Banned
My plan is

1. Start proofing my English (ha ha )
2. Have a major campaign to cut off the eastern border of Anatolia (reduce attacks by Turkomen) from reinforcement
3. Use last surviving library of Antiquity to better understand the failures of Roman Government (succession) vs Western Stable Gov. In addition will also find various lost achievements balanced vs the Western World
4. Marriage in to the Crusader states (Dual Monarchy ? One Gov? )
5. Joint attack on Egypt
6. Better economic development along traditional methods (Land taxes) vs Trade -- to form a better and increasing rev stream
7. Create training for various departments (economic - engineering - Military)

Any advice or thoughts
 

trajen777

Banned
1149 - 1153
Manuel had planned on a campaign to close the gap left in the defenses of the East to minimize intrusions from the Turcoman and other Muslim forces. However the reconstruction and additional farm lands coming under Byz control continued to take more of his administrations time. The ongoing marriage negotiation with the Crusader states was very time consuming.
As revenuers continued to increase he decided to take the next three years (until 1153) to finish the construction of the fleet. Training was consuming most of the time. In this aspect experts were hired from Venice, Genoa, and the Norman Kingdoms to better train up the new Byz recruits.

In addition the actual warships were reviewed and improved. A fleet in concept was proposed and constructed whereby a combined arms strategy was being implemented. At the core was a larger ship then the Dromodon . These newer ships were much larger and the fire tubes were dramatically expanded so that the fire projection could exceed 120 meters vs the earlier ships 30 meters. Basically this was achieved by a massive expansion in the power of the bellows. IN addition to this standard ships would be used for various maneuvers and even long ships (fast shallow draft) would be employed.
The ideal tactics would be to draw up the ships in two lines of three groups. The new fire ships would be positioned on the flanks and burn their way through the enemy’s vessels. At the same time when shallow waters were available on one of other of the enemies flanks the long boats would swiftly outflank the fleet firing arrows and throwing Greek fire grenades on the flanks and backs of the enemy ships.
The center would back oar and draw the center forward so in a perfect world the Byz flanks could sweep into the center of the attacking ships.
Of course this was a perfect world but the flexible Byz system, relying on the belter technology (fire ships) , better resources (more ships), Thematic dedicated sailors, and good strategic harbors and watch towers.
As the navy became more confident and started the training process for further large scale action they were rewarded with a major decrease in piracy, which of course only increased revenue, which allowed for more ships and support staff.
 

trajen777

Banned
Thanks for the response. After reading off and on different history books i kind of fixated on the Byz Empire -- so many different points of historical divergence. After rereading John Haldon and Warren Treadgoods books i felt that so much could have done differently with Manuel as the emperor.

Each decision made from the "going east " and not fighting with the Normans really could have made a difference.
 

trajen777

Banned
1153
In the Spring of the year Manuel formed up the Tagmata for a campaign to try and seal off the Eastern approaches of the : the goal was to sweep from Tephike, Manzikert, Dvin, Ani, & Kars. This would then anchor from the Northern Edessa Crusader state and from the Byz Meltine city to the Southern Georgian kingdom. The forces that were accumulated for the invasion were the Eastern Tagma (12,500 men) 6,000 horse archers (Cumans, Hungarians), two fully trained up Thematic units (10,000 Thematic troops and the 3,000 professional troops), contingents from the Serbs, Crusader states, and some Norman numbers. In total the units accumulated were in excess of 35,000 troops. In addition there were 10,000 partially trained Thematic troops with another 3,000 partially trained professionals.
The battles were complicated and confused and lasted for 7 months. In the end discipline and logistics held through for the decision. Each city fell easily however the travel and communications between each city, the ambushes, attacks on supply chains, pitched battles with the mounted archers falling back, and endless faked retreats to lead overaggressive Byz cavalry forward into traps. However in each of these encounter the archer heavy Byz ranks attacked the horses until the Turks troops were worn down. The cities and fortresses were captured and garrisoned. Smaller bands of Turks were recruited. And the same system developed in the Themes were implemented. Watch towers, forts, improved fortresses, spies, patrols, and roving LC, became the standard operating procedure. The three Thmeatic forces were put into place and the 6000 merc remained also (receiving land grants) as more Cuman and Pech. Troops were recruited and offered land and raiding privileges.
 

trajen777

Banned
During the years 1147 – 1153 The Crisis of the Crusader states:
To help summarize this on the political level – The death of King Fulk in Jerusalem left Melisende as regent for her son Baldwin the third. Here is the Wiki summary:
Melisende's relationship with her son was complex. As a mother she would know her son and his capabilities, and she is known to have been particularly close to her children. As a ruler she may have been reluctant to entrust decision making powers to an untried youth. Either way there was no political or social pressure to grant Baldwin any authority before 1152, even though Baldwin reached majority in 1145. Baldwin III and Melisende were jointly crowned as co-rulers on Christmas Day, 1143. This joint crowning was similar to Melisende's own crowning with her father in 1128, and may have reflected a growing trend to crown one's heir in the present monarch's lifetime, as demonstrated in other realms of this period.
Baldwin grew up to be a capable, if not brilliant, military commander. By age 24 however, Baldwin felt he could take some responsibility in governance. Melisende had hitherto only partially associated Baldwin in her rule. Tension between mother and son mounted between 1150 and 1152, with Baldwin blaming Manasses for alienating his mother from him. The crisis reached a boiling point early 1152 when Baldwin demanded the patriarch Fulcher to crown him in the Holy Sepulchre, without Melisende present. The Patriarch refused. Baldwin, in protest, staged a procession in the city streets wearing laurel wreaths, a kind of self-crowning.
Baldwin and Melisende agreed to put the decision to the Haute Cour. The Haute Cour decided that Baldwin would rule the north of the kingdom and Melisende the richer Judeaand Samaria, and Jerusalem itself. Melisende acquiesced, though with misgivings. This decision would prevent a civil war but also divide the kingdom's resources. Though later historians criticized Melisende for not abdicating in favor of her son, there was little impetus for her to do so. She was universally recognized as an exceptional steward for her kingdom, and her rule had been characterized as a wise one by church leaders and other contemporaries. Baldwin had not shown any interest in governance prior to 1152, and had resisted responsibility in this arena. The Church clearly supported Melisende, as did the barons of Judea and Samaria.

Back to the Narritive :
The relationship of respect that was generated between Manuel and Melisende was apparent to all duing the crusade. With the Death of Fulk and Melisende’s regency the marriage negotiations were concluded by 1149. In the agreement the following points were agreed to:
• The Crusader kingdom would have a joint crown with Manuel & Melisende ruling jointly (in effect she would remain in Jers. And rule there)
• Fulks son would become KOJ at an agreed upon time, but he would be under the Emperor
• If the marriage produced a child this child would be crowned Emperor of Byz. Who would still command the KOJ as a feudal kingdom under the Empire
• Byz would assign Thematic troops over the next 20 years to support the KOJ
• IN 1153-4 the Empire would invade Egypt.
• The west bank of the Nile would belong as a direct part of the Empire. The east bank would be a feudal principality of the KOJ.
In 1150 a male child was born to the marriage. His name was Justinian 3rd . Celebrations were held throughout the Empire as the child was transported to Constantinople. Mellisende gave birth to a 2nd 3rd and 4th child over the next three years. Each of these children spent times in both capitals. In the years 1151 and 1152 Baldwin the 3rd followed in his father’s footsteps and campaigned further and further afield to cause havoc in the Muslim territories along the red sea and towards Mosel and Bagdad. Each of these campaigns were designed to weaken their foes and prepare for the Egyptian campaign of 1153. Mellisende proved she was an incredible administrator and further entwined the Empire with the KOJ.
 

trajen777

Banned
1153 Military Review
In 1144 upon the accession of Manuel the Byzantine forces numbered 55,000 plus the 6,000 Var Guard. From this time there was a steady increase in forces. This was both from basic targeted growth per year but also from acquiring units of Surrendering Turks, and allowing settlements of Alans, Cumans,Serbs, Valds and Pechenges, within the border, on condition they would fight in the Army either as regular troops (25%) or under their own unit structures. In addition following the long held traditions of Rome / Byz select specialist merc units would be added. For example English Longbow men, Genoese crossbow, Frank and Norman HC, and Turkish archers.
• 5000 Thematic per year – 1500 professional troops per year
• Professional Archers 1000
• HC and SHC – 100 per year
• MC – able to fire 3 rounds and then close with lance --- 1000 per year
So in ten years the Byz Army had grown to :
• Original army = 65,000
• Thematic and their professional troops = 50,000 + 15,000 = 65000
• Professional Archers = 10,000
• HC and SHC – 1000
• MC – 10,000
• Settled tribal units = 18,000
• Captured Turks = 20,000
Total Army : 189,000 total troops
 

trajen777

Banned
Economy in 1153
The system to support the rapid military growth of the Army and Navy as well as the rest of the growth came from five places:
• Land tax – the hearth tax which had been the basis of the traditional revenue collection which served the Empire well had gradually been in decline because of the Turkish raids and loss of land. In the is case this traditional resource had dramatically increased as there were far less damaging raids and significant land had been reclaimed and become revenue positive.
• The ravaging Norman wars had been avoided thus saving the Silk works of Corinth and Athens. This was a major pillar of the Byz economy (in the book the Silk Road they est up to 55% of the Byz economy was based upon this resource).
• The increase in the navy eliminated the vast majority of piracy their by gaining not only lost resources but at the same time encouraging trade.
• The conquests of Antioch, Damascus, Edessa, Antioch, even through some of them became crusader states brought in vast trade goods, pillage, and captives for the empire.
• The Increased navy and better relationships with the Crusader states allowed the Byz to become the dominant trade partner with these states.
At the height of Basil 2 the economy had in excess of 6,500,000 gold solidus.
This had fallen to less than 3,500,000 during Johns Reign. After the first 10 years of Manuel’s reign the income had risen to over 5,100,000.
 

trajen777

Banned
1153 – 1155
With the successful invasion and closure of the Anatolia border the invasion of Egypt was held off for till 1155. In that time the Empire was stretched in many directions. Keys:
• Crusade : To increase its expansion and to multiply its force the communications with the Pope were increased. The Pope was to be encouraged to support another Crusade with major financial help from the ERE. The last several Crusades had been financially and militarily successful so the Crusade announcement was well received. To deceive the Egyptians the announced crusade would be focused on expanding the borders in all directions with a focus on Mosul and Bagdad.
• The military had found that the ERE army performed very well when it was fighting a traditional Thematic defensive operation (small units would harry and follow the invasion force until larger forces could be raised to attack the invading force or the passes would be blocked and the invading force ambushed when loaded with booty) or utilizing the ERE Tagmatic attacking force. The results of both of these were really to found with the quality of the leadership. The Great Library of Constantinople research team had done an excellent job of reviewing the historical record of Rome’s military. They took and formalized the traditional success of Nicaphorus Phocus, John Timenizes, and Belisurius campaigns. In addition they reviewed ancient scrolls of Augustus, Caesar, and Marius histories. They found that often times, even with poor leadership at the General level the centurions had stabilized and carried the day. A formalized centurion and junior officer training center was created to better handle the confused and very flexible warfare that was found against their eastern foes.
• The hit and run campaigns of central Anatolia were coming to an end as the Themes had gradually finished the conquests of the plains. The threat of losing the war in these regions was over however banditry and rebellions would go on for decades.
• The Thematic units in the far east were expanding and fortifying as quickly as possible and the alliances and a more flexible view on Orthodoxy was bringing more Armenians forward.
• Occupation Thematic troops and their professional support were being trained for the upcoming invasion of Egypt.
• Engineering staff were being prepared as well as assault towers and siege equipment for the Egyptian campaign. The engineers were tasked with creating methods of attacking ERE fortifications including Constantinople. It was found that some of the methods of warfare in Italy had shown that troops on top of masts could take sea walls. Looking at the capitals weaknesses the engineers were tasked with methods to make the impervious to various method of attack.
• Diplomacy – Hostility was still prevalent with the northern Italian cities. Germany was basically at war with Northern Italy so these nations caused little harm. The Normans were happy with a neutral situation and were looking to expand to Northern Africa. The French and British were constantly at war.
 

trajen777

Banned
1155 Invasion of Egypt
The Crusaders came in waves. 55,000 of them arrived and were quickly ferried across the Bosporus. By May the entire force was living in well stocked settlements. Manuel had preselected 19,000 of them as well as 12,000 troops living in the Crusader states. The Western Tagma (12500), ½ of the Var (3000), allied Pech and cumans and Hungarians (7500), and two Thematic units 26,000 plus two partially trained Thematic units 26,000 departed. The remaining forces 36,000 crusaders, the eastern Tagma (12500) plus 12000 Crusaders begin gathering at Antioch for the campaign to Bagdad.

Manuel’s fleet sailed directly past Crete and arrived 75 miles west of Alexandra. Spies had been snuck into Alexandra and as the fleet sailed closer to the harbor the Egyptian fled to the interior leaving the city defenseless. Half of the Byz troops were dropped off with the fleet continuing on towards Damietta. Here the action was significantly different. The Egyptian fleet met the combined fleet outside the harbor. Understanding the shoals and the sand banks better they fought off the larger fleet and forcing it to withdraw back to Alexandrea. The fleet action still allowed the other half of the Crusaders to march inland and besiege the Damietta fortress. However this force was very short on supplies.
The fleet regrouped and repaired damage. Alexandrea was secured. The force under Manuel marched towards Cario down along the banks of the Nile river. Using their fast moving LC they scattered the various garrisons that were encountered along the way. The fleet made another attempt to resupply the Crusaders at Damietta but was again repulsed. Manuel’s troops fought a battle at Tanta. The battle was fought mostly as exchanges of arrows with the Fatimid Egyptian troops withdrawing in good order south.
After the first months campaign the crusaders were split into two forces, one marching on Cario, the other stuck outside of Damietta. The force driving south was well supplied by the river and was a battle hardned force. The troops stuck at Damietta were facing a dedicated Egyptian force who had taken heart from their naval victories. At this time the population of Egypt was about 60% Christian and 40% Muslim with the vast majority of the city dwellers ( Cairo ) being Muslim and the country people and the city of Alexandrea being Christian. The Crusaders found the county people celebrated them as liberators while the close they marched towards Cairo the smaller cities fought frantically.
 

trajen777

Banned
1155 – 1161
With the successful western drive to Cairo moving rapidly forward the attention returned towards the siege up the river. Twice the Byz fleet had been driven back. IN each instance the shallows and reed banks had forced the Byz fleet to fight in narrow channels and disjointed formations. In the new attempt the lighter Byz naval units went up the river from Alexandria and then back down the other channel. The Main Byz forces again attacked the Damietta Egyptian naval units pushing them back up the Nile river. This time the lighter Byz forces coming down the river caught the Egyptian naval units in a vise. The Egyptian forces were pushed away from the shore line and destroyed almost to a ship. The results were the resupply of the Crusader forces and the sealed doom of the Egyptian garrison. However the city would hold on for another 9 months. When the siege finally concluded they found most of the city had starved to death and mound of treasure was discovered as the 2nd Muslim city of Egypt fell.
Manuel continued his advance towards Cario which fell by siege after 11 months Again like Damietta the vast majority of the populace died in the siege. From here the Crusader forces divided up Egypt capturing small towns and forces as they went. Desultory warfare and raids continued for another 3 years, before peace finally descended.

The New providence of Egypt was split up with Alexandria and the western bank being made a direct providence of the Empire. The eastern bank was made into feudal holdings directly under the KOJ and from there to the Emperor.

The other Crusader army had marched on Baghdad defeating forces as they went. The sultan agreed to terms with the Crusader army, making each crusader a wealthy man, and the crusader army returned to the KOJ. 50% of the crusaders remained in the KOJ the rest returned home.
In 1161 Melisende died and was widely mourned throughout the Empire. Six months later Baldwin also died. The KOJ crown was combined into Manuel's crown. The direct fief of the KOJ was made into a Dukedom.
 
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