"I'm quickly finding it hard to get a moments peace around here; wouldn't you say the same men?" - Andronikos III.
January
Solemn and cold faces met the Emperor and his men as they marched into Ohrid on the 5th of January; both the Emperor and his men as well as the citizens of Ohrid were exhausted. Both had been through this war and back twice now--although Andronikos and his men were clearly the more weary.
The Emperor ordered that whatever resources his army could spare, buy or sell, were to be committed to--and made a note to pick out the most exhausted men of his army to leave behind as the renewed garrison; their days of marching with him were for now over.
Andronikos and his men rested for the three days they were accustomed to, as they simply couldn't get themselves to sit still any longer than that. In this the Emperor knew they had to make another pass of the area--to clear up loose ends and akin. He carved up a portion of whatever spoils were his between his men to keep them focused with a bit of a donative--before they marched out on the 9th of January.
They winded down from Ohrid to Bitola, then to Kastoria. Upon reaching Servia the Emperor had received the news of the escape of one of Orsini's sons. Andronikos himself didn't even bother to learn the man's name--all he knew was that he was moving up into upper Epirus to escape his Governor of Arta and perhaps ferment a rebellion.
No, now that wouldn't do.
Unluckily for the would-be-rebel he and his escape-aids effectively ran right into Andronikos and his forces on the 12th while trying to cross to Butrint. The Emperor had very little sympathy for the man, and neither did his tired men. Everyone they caught--including the fleeing heir, were simply killed and dumped into a mass grave after whatever belongings they had were looted.
With this chapter closed, they marched to Arta, being welcomed by Michael of Arta and the population with about as much fanfare as could be mustered considering the circumstances. The Emperor insured his men were tended to properly himself--taking a moment to inspect the city and figure out exactly how that would-be-rebel had escaped.
It had been as simple as the man having supporters in the city--supporters who'd either fled with him or had been purged by Michael shortly afterwards. It didn't matter anymore.
Andronikos and his men would leave Arta on the 16th, passing through Thessaly and resting at Domokos for a day and night. The Emperor and the Governor, Sfyrios, would spend some time together--measuring the border with Latin-held Greece for that time, before Andronikos and his men were forced to leave by the specifics of things on the the 17th.
The Allagion and its Emperor would then march for Bitola once more, reaching it on the 19th. Knowing what he did now the Emperor felt very uncomfortable with the border, and thus upon speaking with the garrison commander of Bitola, one Manuel (hereafter known as Manuel of Bitola), the Emperor decreed the creation of a third Governorship--one of Bitola, which included the surrounding environs and cities of Upper Macedon--Ohrid, Prilep and Maglen as well as more.
The new Governor took to the task with a unique purpose, and began to coordinate the exhausted forces of the area with a unique vigor which seemed to inspire his men.
These events put Andronikos' mind at enough ease; with the Emperor believing that with the three Governorships within his far-western domains there was very little chance of it being overtaken.
He and his men would arrive in Thessaloniki on the 22nd, after passing by Voden on their route. They would be welcomed with a soft fanfare--as was to be expected at this point. It seemed the whole of the Balkans had absorbed how tired the Emperor and his men were.
Andronikos would take the rest of the month to give his army time to recuperate--as well as to receive and give out letters.
It seemed the situation with Galata was getting worse, and the Genoese were using their control of the Upper Aegean to interfere with both the Roman merchants and its navy.
There was also the matter of Bulgaria. The Emperor's men had won their 'prize' of land--which included the important areas of Burgas and Philippopolis, but it was yet to be claimed and properly reorganized as a part of the Empire. That would have to be rectified next month.
February
February began as one might expect--with the Emperor and his men forced to shake off any chance of continuing their rest for now. The Empire needed them--and yet it was a hard task to finally get up and leave the city.
It was by the 3rd of February that Andronikos and his men would depart Thessaloniki--taking the battered roads; stopping first at Amphipolis, then Komotini before finally coming to a stop at Adrianople. There the Emperor and his men were met with more fanfare than prior--as Adrianople and Andronikos had history [1]. Thus they rested, from their arrival on the 6th until the early morning of the 8th, before they departed once more.
The Emperor left behind his most tired and spent troops--only taking with him his most loyal and fit riders--numbering roughly 500 men. Those left behind would eventually depart from Adrianople and return to Constantinople on the 11th by themselves--with the prior permission of Andronikos of course.
It was on the 10th that Andronikos and his retinue arrived at Burgas, and reunited with the rested and victorious troops of Theodore, his Domestic. It is said the Emperor and his Domestic embraced--and regaled each other with stories from their time apart. Andronikos quickly learned that the Bulgarian commander, Peter, who had aided Theodore in their victory had been forced by duty to keep to Dobruja--making an effort to fully pacify the area and stamp the seal of the young Tsar Konstantin II into the lands.
Once all was said and done the Emperor and Theodore, their combined forces numbering around 2,300, departed Bursa on the morning of the 12th and made towards Philippopolis. On the way they secured the official hand-over of Provat, Klokotnitsa, as well as the Bachkovo Monastery--with Provat and Klok's garrisons willing to stay behind and come into the service of the Emperor.
It was upon reaching the environs of Philippopolis Andronikos would be intercepted by the Bulgarian bureaucrat George. George had fled Philippopolis in fear for his life--as George himself had been put in-charge of organizing the hand-over of the large and important city. As it turned out the Bulgarian majority as well as the cities garrison opposed this. Konstantin's secondary officials barely batted and eye, and simply left--with tensions growing as George and the Roman minority tried to push for the honouring of the treaty.
These Romans were exiled forcibly--their property taken; those that resisted being killed. These exiles would also come into the presence of the Emperor--forcing the Emperor and his men to encamp and make preparations. It was only by the 14th that the Emperor managed to secure the acknowledgment of Klokotnitsa that it would take in the few thousand or so refugees on a temporary basis.
The Emperor fully intended to take Philippopolis in short order--even if he had to leave the city within the walls a smoking ruin.
It was the 17th when Andronikos and his force arrived outside of the walls, having taken time to double back to Adrianople and secure siege equipment [2]. The Bulgarians within the city were adamant in their refusal the Emperor's efforts--having came to the conclusion that their Tsar would help them.
This delusion would continue even as the Emperor's trebuchets began to bombard the cities districts behind the walls. Andronikos wanted the city for its name and walls--not the people inside.
Even when half the city had been reduced to rubble on the morning of the 21st they still held firm--and seemed to have been proven right when a force of 2,000 riders arrived bearing the Tsar's banner. Their moral shattered past rock bottom when it became obvious they were not here to fight the Romans--but to parley.
It was Peter, who had been assigned the mission to speak with Andronikos after Konstantin had heard from his officials what was going on--Peter's relationship with Theodore the driving reason for his assignment. It quickly became clear that Peter was there to hand the Emperor a blank writ to do as he wished with the situation--as Konstantin well-knew he had the Emperor to thank for the stabilization of his realm.
It would be on the morning of the 22nd, when the notion that no aid was coming finally set in, that the gates of Philippopolis opened to allow the Emperor in. What greeted him was a defeated population--one which he held no sympathy for.
He separated them up--taking all the surviving young and strong, alongside their families, and deporting them under Theodore's guard. They were destined for Anatolia as settlers [3]. Those remaining dregs were sent with Peter back to Bulgaria.
By the 25th the city was empty, and by the 26th it had been repopulated somewhat by the return of George and the exiled Romans--who agreed to form their own militia to temporarily defend the city as well as to create a unit to coordinate the rebuilding of the city. Roughly 100 of Andronikos' own retinue agreed to stay behind and integrate into the city and provide a trained backbone to things.
Within this lull the Emperor was hit with letters from John back at Constantinople--and left clenching his fist in a mixture of sheer rage and exhaustion.
Galata had been rebuffing every single one of John's attempts to reconcile things--and Roman merchants themselves weren't making things any easier; only pissing off the Genoese merchants there further by trying to angle in on the market while they appeared distracted.
Andronikos' men shared his anger--they wanted to rest, and yet here were the damned Latin's making a fuss. It seemed like clockwork.
Upon their return to Constantinople on the 2nd of March there was a grimness in their motions--a drive to have this done with.
March
Andronikos and his men entered the city of Constantinople to the acclaim of the population--as his efforts had been capitalized on by both John and his wife Anna for propaganda purposes; pushing the narrative of the Empire's next great Warrior-Emperor. Andronikos himself found it displeasing--he was their Emperor yes, but he cared very little for pomp and circumstance.
His troops would be dismissed to their barracks to meet up with their comrades, while the Emperor and Anna locked themselves away in the Boukoleon to be alone with their son, as well as each other.
The Emperor would leave the Boukoleon on the 5th with a dark determination writ on his face.
After meeting with John that afternoon a letter was sent to the Genoese of Galata--and it was blunt in it's motions;
- The Genoese had violated their treaty by fortifying their quarter--that had been ignored in favour of the Genoese due to friendship; this was now at an end. The Galata's fortifications were to be torn down and never rebuilt.
- The Genoese had damaged Roman trade by their efforts to undercut their ships and physically and financially assault the Empire's merchants--they would pay a sum of currency as recompense.
- The Genoese were to hand over the ringleaders of this feud so that they may be judged by the Emperor for their crimes against the mutual peace and the Empire itself.
The Genoese response? The Romans were met with the burning hulks of a portion of the Imperial Fleet anchored in the Golden Horn on the morning of the 7th.
Thankfully for the Romans Andronikos himself had been worried about this, especially after prodding from Alexios--thus most of the fleet was harboured within other seaports of Constantinople--or out on a hasty patrol. By midday the remaining fleet had been recollected into a cohesive force and pointed right at Galata--cutting it off with a functional blockade.
They'd struck out thrice.
Calls for negotiations quickly reached the Emperor's ears--but he and his council were of a firm mind on this; the Genoese had to be put in their place, and thus all letters were burnt upon arrival, left unread--the blockade tightened to prevent messages getting out; although they inevitably would.
On the morning of the 8th Andronikos mustered his men--picking out roughly 2,000 of those willing to fight for the Empire and put an end to things. While he had to dip into his pockets once more to give them a donative--this donative wasn't required, it was a courtesy, and inspired great loyalty in those men who chose to follow him.
Andronikos and his forces would depart Constantinople on the 10 onboard converted merchant ships--these ships donated by the willing Roman merchants, who themselves wanted to see Genoa toppled from power within the region. Their target was the upper Aegean isles.
Limnos itself would be taken without even a fight on the part of the Genoese. The Romans of Limnos had butchered their Genoese garrison, and given themselves back over to the Romans on the 12th. From this island base Andronikos and his ships resupplied and reequipped, before moving towards Lesbos on the 14th.
Andronikos and his invasion fleet met with resistance, as the Lord of Chios himself--Martino Zaccaria, led a cobbled together fleet against the Romans at the Battle of the Waves. Andronikos lost a portion of his men, roughly 100, following the sinking of some of his vessels--but Zaccaria's fleet was subdued. Martino himself managed to flee back to Chios--leaving several ships to be captured and repaired, as well as Lesbos itself undefended.
Just as the first verse had gone with Limnos, the second went with Lesbos. The population revolted--and the Genoese garrison was forced to retreat from the island under cover of night. Thus on the morning of the 17th the Emperor fully reclaimed the island, and consolidated his position.
The Emperor himself was energetic--quickly assigning locals to form a militia and govern themselves in the name of the Emperor, before resupplying and departing. He knew he couldn't let up the pressure--hammering minor fleets patrolling around Chios before the Genoese even had time to firmly react.
Martino was forced to face the music when on the 21st, after 2 days of trying to hold out, the rebellion of the native Roman population became all too obvious. He sued for peace with Andronikos--and the two would meet face to face in Martino's keep on Chios on the morning of the 22nd, with the Genoese nobleman cowed quickly by the blunt tones of the Roman Emperor before him.
While Martino tried to argue his position and offer his fealty--saying that he hadn't been involved with the whole fiasco in Galata, the Emperor responded by metaphorically hanging the noble by the own rope he'd given out. Martino had violated the lease for Chios by adding to its fortifications, and thus was no longer entitled to it.
The noble was allowed to leave with his retinue on a few of his own ships on the 23rd--while the rest of his fleet was captured, refurbished and repurposed.
It would be on the 24th that news would reach Andronikos by a ship sent from Anatolia; the Genoese relief fleet had arrived--simply passing by the recaptured upper Aegean isles and going straight for the Bosporus. The Imperial Fleet had been forced to scatter to avoid losses--and had regrouped in Burgas by the 23rd.
The Genoese were now patrolling the whole breadth of the upper Aegean hoping to capture the Emperor--as they'd heard by now that he'd departed to recapture the isles. Thus, having no other option, Andronikos would stay put on Chios--coordinating with Artemios in Anatolia by fast carrier ships--who in turn coordinated with Constantinople by ships via the Black Sea ports of Anatolia and Europe.
By the 3rd of April a plan had been reached, one which would place Constantinople back where it belonged in the pecking order.
April
On the morning of the 3rd Andronikos and his fleet would depart--ensuring to choreograph their presence in order to draw Genoese attention. It was thus that on the 5th everything would fall into place; the Second Battle of the Waves.
The ships under Andronikos were barely able to hold their lines against the Genoese--and just when it seemed as if the Emperor's own flagship would be send to the bottom of the Aegean, that's when Alexios himself arrived with the Imperial Fleet. With a redoubled effort, Andronikos took full charge of his own ships; the Genoese ground to dust between the two forces.
Andronikos himself was wounded twice--once to the head by splinters from a collision, which caused a cut--and again by two arrows fired from Genoese bowmen which pierced his armour around his left shoulder and shoulder blade.
But the Romans had been victorious--and Alexios had made a fine showing of himself; coordinating his forces with a noted leadership. Several Genoese ships and prisoners were captured, with the Romans firmly returning to Constantinople on the 6th.
The Emperor didn't allow himself a moment to rest from his wounds--and immediately sprung into demanding Galata's surrender. He was struck with deja vu when Galata refused any attempt at treating with the Emperor--seeming to hope for Genoese reinforcements [4].
Alexios busied himself flamboyantly paying out of pocket for the refurbishment of the fleet once more--angling for the position of full leadership over it, which Andronikos gave him. The delighted Alexios would take to the task of patrolling the Aegean and Bosporus against the Genoese with relish--enjoying the idea of independent glory from the Emperor.
Andronikos himself, now knowing the Genoese wouldn't back down within Galata fully committed to its siege--constructing siege works across from it which could be directly supplied from nearby Constantinople. It was on the 9th that Galata began to be bombarded--with the Emperor localizing fire to the outer districts first before working it gradually backwards.
A large dent was put in the siege on the 15th when a Genoese raid managed to shatter most of his siege equipment, but Andronikos simply ordered them rebuilt or replaced--and made to look undefended enough to draw the raiders again. These raiders were ambushed by Roman riders and spearmen and hacked to pieces--and Andronikos made a big show of showering their bodies over the fortresses of Galata before properly returning to besieging the city.
The population finally cracked on the 19th, and opened the gates. Andronikos allowed those that fled to live--funneling them into Constantinople, before he and his men invaded the city. While the Romans met losses, the city was brutally pacified by the 22nd.
Upon the note that Galata was finally silent, Andronikos is said to have looked relaxed for the first time in 4 years.
[1] Adrianople will always be a sort of backbone city to the Emperor and his efforts, as it was his capital for a good while prior to his coronation. The fact that Andronikos always came back to the city during his campaigns in Europe--as well as made at least some sort of donative to the city each year--kept its population behind him.
[2] Throughout his 4 years of campaigning the Emperor learned to keep caches of siege equipment in important 'route' cities, which he would always be bound to be able to return to if needed. The major cities to hold these caches as of this point were Thessaloniki and Adrianople in Europe and Nicaea in Anatolia--although the Duchy of Nicaea made use of this cache when the Emperor himself wasn't present, when needed.
[3] Upon their firm arrival in March of 1331 these forced settlers were irritable at first--but the charisma and persistence of Artemios eventually hammered them into effective settlers. They would become one of several core populations in Roman Anatolia that would gradually interbreed with, and be absorbed, by the native Roman population. They would provide skilled light horsemen for decades.
[4] No noted Genoese reinforcements came from their Black Sea colonies due to the fact that they wished to avoid causing a stir with the biggest trading and naval power within the region--that being Trebizond. Andronikos III Komnenos would never bring this up, not gloating or holding it over his fellow Andronikos--instead trade simply increased between the two, as did their mutual respect.
