Entry No. 14: A Hard Fought Peace Paid in Blood
Eudokia Ingerina decided on the winter of 871 AD that the Byzantines should pause for a while as her army is struggling to maintain its numbers due to other commitments in the Levant, allowing her garrison forces in Baku to set up their permanent base there. Although she was unsure of whether or not the Saffarids and many other Islamic emirates that emerged in the Middle East could survive, she wanted to position Byzantium into a dominant position to take over should the Arab conquerors fall apart and a power vacuum has been created. In addition, Baku also served as a suitable place from which she could launch an attack on the unprotected back of the Saffarids in Persia. Luckily, Many Caucasian Albanian inhabitants of the region were willing to take up arms and fight for Byzantium, even though they were Christian in the Oriental Orthodox sense.
In the Levant, Nikephoros Phokas the Elder and Admiral Christopher had progressed considerably in recapturing key ports that were held by the Arabs. In the region of Lebanon, the Ghassanids were busy consolidating their own control over that key territory and they were more than eager to expand their control, especially in the land of Palestine, where Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in harmony. However, by the winter of 871 AD Nikephoros Phokas the Elder arrived at the important port city of Haifa, currently controlled by the remaining Arab survivors who holed up in that city, hoping for warships from Egypt to escort them out of the city. With little need to negotiate with the Haifa defenders, Nikephoros Phokas the Elder proceeded to attack Haifa from land. His eagerness to take the city before winter set in would prove to be his undoing, as the Arab fleet unexpectedly arrived in Haifa after they were defeated by Admiral Christopher in the Byzantine reconquest of Cyprus that occurred on Christmas Day.
By January 13th of 871 AD, Nikephoros Phokas the Elder was forced to retreat from Haifa in defeat as the Arabs rejoiced at having beaten back the Byzantine advance. The retreating Byzantine troops were then relocated back to Beirut where the Ghassanids proceeded to take up their duties in guarding the frontiers that divided the Byzantine Empire from the Arab lands. To make things more interesting for the old general, Eudokia Ingerina told him not to carry out any more offensives in the Levant and to allow the Arabs to exhaust themselves while she sends her emissaries to the Bulgarian court in Preslav to convince Boris that Bulgarian entry into the Arab-Byzantine War was necessary.
Bulgaria and Moravia – Clearing out the Enemy:
Rastislav I of Moravia and Khan Boris I of Bulgaria continued their advances into East Francian territory during 871 AD, intending to clear out the Frankish forces from Great Moravia. Once the last Frankish force was cleared out of Moravian territory, Rastislav would launch his first offensive into Frankish territory in order to expand his borders westward. His new goal though, was to consolidate a vital piece of territory that straddled on the banks of the Saale River. His Saale River campaign, unlike the Byzantine campaign that took four years to complete, will be completed in just one and a half year, often with Boris helping him. Starting on February of 871 AD, Rastislav ordered the construction of a fortress on the Elbe River close to the border of his own Moravian domains that will take six months to complete (yet it was a relatively small sized fortress).
The new fortress on the border with Great Moravia itself also sprung up into a small, military settlement where the soldiers of Rastislav’s forces settled down. This new fortress would eventually emerge into the modern Moravian city of Labehrod (Elbetown) (1), an important border town that served as a great bastion of Moravian power against the Franks. Although the new fortress town was not yet completed, on the Frankish side Arnulf was not in a hurry to capture the fortress because he needed more troops to replace the ones he lost in the last Frankish incursion into northern Moravia. To make sure that the danger posed by the remaining Franks to the new town of Labehrod was eliminated, Rastislav marched with 6,000 of his troops into the Frankish fortress of Magdeburg (though Boris accompanied him with his 20,000 plus troops).
Magdeburg was besieged by March 29th, 871 AD in what Frankish historians would later call the Great Miracle, as this battle became known. Though the siege lasted for three and a half months (the Magdeburg fortress was surprisingly difficult to capture), it was Rastislav’s turn to sustain heavy casualties, as he eventually lost around 5,231 of his 6,000 troops. Boris therefore took over command of the siege while Rastislav acquired extra troops to replace the ones that he had lost. However, Arnulf was recalled to Carinthia in order to stave off a potential coup against Adrian II, and instead, another young prince was appointed the commander of a Frankish army that would meet the Moravian threat, for it was Hugh of Saxony who eventually emerged as a powerful opponent of Rastislav, and it was through his tactics that Rastislav suffered a setback in his attempts to conquer Magdeburg.
The arrival of Prince Hugh of Saxony gave the defenders a morale boost as fresh troops, counter-siege equipment and provisions arrived in Magdeburg by June 26th. Yet Boris too, began to lose more of his troops to Hugh and even he was forced to retreat back to Labehrod within just three days. Yet Rastislav was not deterred by the defeat that he and Boris sustained, for the internal strife that occurred between Louis the Younger, Charles the Bold and Charles the Fat would force the Franks to deal with the fratricidal war. By September of 871 AD, both Charles the Bold and Charles the Fat were killed and Arnulf had officially become the new Emperor of the Franks with Adrian II’s help. It was then that both Arnulf and Adrian II felt that the time has come for the Frankish realm to consolidate control of its territories and to reconquer lost lands that fell under Moravian rule.
Northern Italy was annexed to the Frankish Empire by October of 871 AD under Arnulf’s orders as he continued his reorganization of the empire into various provinces. He also raised taxes in order to generate revenue for the purpose of building a new army that will take down the Moravians. Finally, Arnulf would turn his full attention to the long awaited mission of bringing Moravia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Serbia under the light of Roman Catholicism, a mission that he will ultimately fail. By December of 871 AD, he felt ready to march towards the town of Labehrod and to take care of the Moravians and Bulgarians before they return with reinforcements. Yet something unexpected had occurred that will not go in his favor.
News of Arnulf’s ascension as Emperor of the Franks had greatly caused alarm within the Varangian lands as Ubbe Ragnarsson (another of Halfdan’s brothers) marched to Moravia with 4,000 additional Varangian warriors from Denmark. Accompanying Ubbe Ragnarsson was a force of 2,000 Norse Varangians commanded by King Harald Fairhair (who sailed from Norway) and last but not least, a force of 3,000 Swedish Varangians commanded by Askold alongside a token force of 1,000 East Slavic warriors and 500 Varangians under the leadership of Chief Helgi (the future Oleg of Novgorod who succeeded Rurik). As it turned out, Rastislav wrote to his Varangian neighbors, pleading for help in a war against the Franks, enticing them with bountiful treasures once they cross into the Frankish lands. Suffice to say, most of these Varangians jumped at the offer.
Arnulf received a nasty surprise when on December 30th, 871 AD, his army was about to cross the Elbe once again to attack Lyubiche when Ubbe’s Varangians staged an ambush on his troops at the Moravian border with the Frankish Empire. At the same time, Rastislav, King Harald Fairhair and Chief Helgi attacked Magdeburg once again, although this time they came fully prepared with siege engines built by the Moravians themselves, using stolen blueprints that their spies had taken from the Frankish camp while the Moravians rested up their troops. Once again, Hugh of Saxony was called in to defend the fortress but against the Varangians his forces were fearful of their reputation. To make matters worse, King Harald Fairhair moved away from Magdeburg and began to launch devastating raids across the Frankish lands between Magdeburg and Labehrod, often resulting in many slaves being captured and treasures being taken.
Meanwhile, Boris began to launch an offensive against the Franks from Labehrod by January 6th, 872 AD. He simply ordered his troops to raid supply lines that are lightly guarded and to retreat only when the Franks were about to launch a surprise attack on them. Much of the Varangian and Bulgarian raids on Frankish farms had devastating consequences as the civilian population had nothing to eat during this harsh winter, and 2,800 people within the Eastern Francian lands died from starvation. The lack of food also meant that the defenders of Magdeburg were down to their last rations as Hugh of Saxony thought of retreating from the fortress and into safety on the other side of the Elbe River. So it was rather surprising when Hugh of Saxony surrendered his fortress to Rastislav’s troops by February 8th (only because the last provisions was consumed), three weeks later than expected and he was allowed to retreat back to the Frankish lands along with the survivors of his army. Rastislav then proceeded to annex the fortress town and renamed it Kremenohrod as the Moravian flag was raised.
Although Adrian II was utterly devastated with the loss of Magdeburg to the Moravians, he had other things to worry about other than the schismatics who scored yet another victory. It appears that the Emirate of Sicily’s forces were on the verge of attacking southern Italy, and so he advised Arnulf to call off the war against the Moravians and to take care of the Arabs first. So it became a weird episode for Arnulf as he sent emissaries to Constantinople for a temporary alliance with Eudokia Ingerina against the Arabs. In one of the proposals of this alliance, Arnulf declared his intention to annex southern Italy (including the Italian lands controlled by the Byzantines) and in return he will let the Byzantines keep the Levant and cede Egypt to them.
Byzantine Empire – The First Piece of the Puzzle:
With the Frankish threat subsided in favor of a common offensive against the increasing strength of the Arabs, the Byzantine Empire could now focus on recapturing the Levant, as well as the potential re-conquest of Mesopotamia from the Arabs (though the Saffarids in Persia were also preparing for war against the Byzantines as well). However, the Byzantines were still determined to expand their influence in the Caucasus, and they had to do it through the Sakartvelian rulers who had connections to the Byzantine authorities. This kind of cultural expansion greatly worried Ashot I of Armenia who was eager to expand his own influence into the rest of the Caucasus, regardless of whether or not Byzantine power was more prevalent. To this end, Ashot I sent spies into Sakartvelian lands to learn about the latest intrigues and to figure out which Sakartvelian prince was more willing to formulate an independent course from Byzantium.
Ashot I of Armenia’s fortunes were boosted with the marriage of the Sakartvelian Prince Guaram Mampali to his sister, which cemented a potential alliance that could either help the Byzantines or endanger their eastern frontier. With that marriage secured, Ashot I encouraged Guaram to seize the territory of Abkhazia and even sent 15,000 troops to help with the campaign. Though the mountainous terrain of Abkhazia made it difficult to pull off a successful military campaign, Ashot I of Armenia gradually countered this problem by building a series of small forts in Kutaisi and Samtredia in order to serve as forward bases from which Guaram could launch his attacks. The small forts took two months to complete (although much of the work was done in a rather poor manner, which explains why those forts crumbled constantly). The Samtredia fortress would not be rebuilt until the year 960 AD, by which time the Sakartvelians would be closely integrated with Armenia.
The emerging so-called ‘cold war’ between Byzantium and Armenia would occur over the dispute in Abkhazia, but the Armenians were not ready to campaign against the Abkhazians until the year 874 AD. In those two years though, Ashot I shelved his plans to aid Guaram (though it is also due to the birth of Prince Tigran Mampali in June of 872 AD) and focused on conducting trade between his kingdom, Byzantium and the Hungarian Khaganate. The Hungarians still proved themselves to be natural allies of Armenia but the slow growth of Kievan Rus’ meant that the Hungarian Khaganate and Khazaria had to watch out for the impulsive tendencies of the Rus’ Varanagians to raid at any given time. Two additional years also proved to be a boon for Guaram as well since he still served Bagrat I of Iberia. Yet the tensions between Guaram and his other brothers who still maintained their allegiance to Byzantium (the title curoplates was borne by Bagrat I) since Guaram saw Byzantine intrusion into Sakartvelian affairs to be a danger. However, a different event would shock the Sakartvelians into action.
Abkhazia’s King George II unexpectedly launched an attack on the Iberian lands as early as November of 873 AD in response to Ashot I’s military buildup and his fear that the Armenians would succeed in encircling the Sakartvelians by cutting them off from the Black Sea. Surprisingly, Bagrat I managed to repel the Abkhazians’ invasion into Iberian territory but George II called upon Khazaria’s Khagan Benjamin for help in defeating the Iberians. By November 28th, Khazar cavalry units entered Iberia and preceded to ramsack the towns and villages controlled by Bagrat I. Khagan Benjamin would also join in the Abkhazian attack on Salkhino by December 2nd. The Khazar danger forced Ashot I to accelerate the Armenian preparations and wrote a letter to Arpad, asking for his help in fighting the Khazars.
As for the Byzantines, Eudokia Ingerina finally decided to take action in response to the growing danger posed by the Saffarids in the south and the Khazars in the north by ordering Eustathios Argyros and his garrison of 32,000 soldiers (the extra 3,000 troops came from the Caucasian Albanian Christians who defected to the Byzantine side from the Arabs) to commence with the Byzantine conquest of Caucasian Albania in order to drive a wedge between the Khazars and the Saffarids. Starting on January 14th, 874 AD, Eustathios Argyros launched an attack on the Caucasian Albanian stronghold of Gabala (2) (controlled by the surviving Arab garrison). By this time, the Arab forces in Caucasian Albania were in the process of retreating from there in order to reinforce the Abbasid stronghold in the face of Byzantine resurgence in the Middle East.
Yet like Nikephoros Phokas in the Levant, Eustathios Argyros had a hard time taking the fortress, as the Arab defenders were surprisingly stubborn. Such stubbornness was so fierce that the Byzantine general requested for Ashot I to divert his troops from the Armenian border with the Sakartvelian statelets to help dislodge the Arabs out of Gabala. Armenian troops reached Gabala by February 27th, by which the siege was still going. The presence of Armenian soldiers in Gabala accelerated the depletion of ammunition, weapons and provisions within the Arab garrison to the point where the Arab defenders decided that, rather than to allow themselves to be captured by the Byzantines; they would attack them in a series of suicidal attacks. The Arab frenzy resulted in over 4,000 Byzantine soldiers killed, including Eustathios Argyros himself, who was slain by an Arab cavalryman.
The heavy price the Byzantines paid for the capture of Gabala prompted Ingerina to send Andronikos Doukas to replace the slain Argyros as the commander of the Byzantine garrison troops in Caucasian Albania but the heavy casualties sustained by the Byzantines there meant that the Byzantine empress had to scale back Byzantine involvement in Caucasian Albania and to shift her focus back towards the Levant. It was there that Nikephoros Phokas the Elder would be joined by another general, Andrew the Scythian. It was worth noting that Andrew the Scythian was Nikephoros Phokas the Elder’s predecessor as the leader of the prestigious Domestic of the Schools and his appearance in the Levant meant that Ingerina’s intentions were sincere and serious. With two Byzantine generals commanding a large army that was poised to continue its campaign against the Arabs, the Abbasids in Egypt were hard pressed to march their forces to reinforce Jerusalem. The final thrusts that the Byzantines would make against the Arabs would decide the fate of the whole of the Holy Land. For now, Eudokia Ingerina could now add northern Caucasian Albania as the latest addition to her empire's conquests.
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(1) Labehrod is TTL’s name for Dresden.
(2) Gabala is TTL’s name for Qabala, Azerbaijan.