Anno Domini 830, April-14-23
The repairs of the fortress of Siscia had been completed successfully, forcing me to extract good stone and shape it from the nearby mountains, but we had restored the fortress well, considering we had worked for almost a month on the repairs, using a massive military force to complete the task. Now our western flank was secure.
The repaired walls, the gates reinforced with iron bars and a number of locks and braces to prevent them from being broken, the portcullis and the double gate that had been built would be a headache for any Frankish force that tried to attack us, so we had left behind a strong fortress prepared to withstand a siege, along with multiple positions along the walls and tens of thousands of arrows and bolts stored within.
With a sense of calm, leaving the storehouses full of the food we had taken, we began to move toward the Serbian lands.
The journey itself was short, and we encountered several Frankish castles in the region that tried to block our path, but they were quickly besieged and taken by force, or they surrendered when they saw our numbers.
That delayed us for a few days, and we had to leave another one thousand men behind to garrison those castles, so that in the future we could use this region more safely if we wished to harass the Croatian march from multiple directions.
So we kept traveling, making camp while we looted nearby villages, until we began to notice that some settlements had already been looted by other forces, and we encountered Croatian and Frankish troops carrying Carolingian banners. We had arrived after a long day of marching, and the scouts had not managed to warn us in time to act.
That allowed the Carolingian forces to withdraw quickly, escaping across the Sava river, while we simply continued moving forward.
After several days of marching, we found the first Serbs, who seemed surprised to see imperial banners.
Once we spoke with them, as one of the many translators in my army happened to speak Serbian, they explained that their archon Vlastimir was carrying out skirmishes against Croatian and Frankish forces.
It seemed that my intention of reaching Sirmium would not be of much use, as it was not the main Serbian settlement. According to the agreements the Serbs had reached with Theophilos, they had been granted the fortress of Singidon, as they were considered foederati tasked with defending the Danube, so they were given a Roman fortress that had been held by the Bulgars, but was now in Serbian hands, and Vlastimir had made it his new capital.
So I continued along the Sava river until it met the Danube, where we saw the fortress of Singidon. It was clearly built following Roman construction methods, but it carried the influence of Bulgar construction that I had seen in Pliska, suggesting that the fortress had been repaired multiple times to replace parts of its structure.
Around it stood a sizable settlement that likely supplied the Serbian troops with the resources and taxes needed for their campaigns.
That was good news, as I needed to reinforce my numbers with Serbian troops, ideally raising a levy of ten thousand men to add to my army and gain forces specialized in this difficult terrain of hills, mountains, and forests, which defined this region.
So, crossing the river, which was heavily guarded by Serbian forces, they allowed us to pass, though with clear reluctance.
For some reason, the Serbs appeared tense as they watched my army advance into their lands. Considering the time I had already lost repairing the previous fortress, I requested an immediate audience with the Serbian archon, to secure his permission for recruitment and to obtain all the information he had gathered from his battles.
''What is going on, why does the archon still refuse to let me enter to speak with him'' I said, frowning and looking at the Serbian guards in Greek, though none of them seemed to understand me.
The Serbs stared at me nervously, watching me closely, while one of them shut his eyes tightly, and the gates of the fortress remained completely closed in our presence.
The wait continued as we began preparing to spend the night, since for some reason the Serbs refused to let me enter their fortress, and the only option they offered was that I enter alone…
That was deeply suspicious, as if they intended to capture me, so I began making preparations in case the Serbs attempted something against us.
While we set up camp, raising wooden defenses, I could not understand why the Serbs were acting with such distrust.
As we continued waiting, the diplomat of Theophilos arrived, it seemed he had been in the city, staying there with an escort of scholai.
''Greetings, strategos… it seems your campaign in Pannonia was a complete success… though I see it took longer than expected, and the Serbian archon appears rather nervous from what I can tell'' the diplomat said, smiling as he entered my tent while I waited for reports from my scouts.
''Is there any reason why that archon refuses to receive me in his fortress, or should I assume he is aligning himself with the enemy'' I said, seriously, crossing my arms and sitting in a chair while studying maps of the region.
''Well, it happened that while we awaited your arrival, Vlastimir did not wish to commit too many of his troops fighting alone, and he began to refuse to cooperate fully with the imperial offensive… in fact, he was sending false reports claiming he had fought large Croatian forces, but our spies confirmed those battles never happened or were greatly exaggerated… a raid on a shepherd village was presented as a major battle'' the imperial diplomat said.
''I see… then we have a serpent playing both sides…'' I said, staring at him.
''A bit… he was asking for reinforcements, and when they did not arrive, he looted some settlements that had recently fallen under our control… a few days ago we gave him a warning for his actions… since he also claimed that we had not delivered the supplies the basileus had promised him, and according to him he took them by force to continue the campaign against the Croats…'' the diplomat said.
''But they are not even fighting… the bastard was simply playing to gain power and gather as many supplies as possible'' I said, annoyed by the situation.
''Yes… and this situation kept escalating when your forces arrived, so now Vlastimir is in a bad position, since his forces are scattered… according to the spies, many of them were on the Croatian front or on our side, watching whether the new strategos in the region would send forces to punish the Serbs… he did not expect the imperial army to come from the north'' the diplomat said.
''Good… then we have a rat in our hands… I will prepare the siege and drag him out by force'' I said, walking toward the exit of my tent.
''Wait, strategos… it is very important that we do not do that… it would be a waste of time to besiege this fortress… Singidon is a great stronghold and must be full of supplies, so a siege would take months or years… and we would lose time, it is not optimal, we want to drive the Franks out of Croatia this year…'' the diplomat said, stopping me before I gave the order to prepare the siege equipment.
''Then what do you want us to do… the man is nervous and must already be calling all his troops to come and save his neck'' I replied, turning back as my Varangians were about to follow me outside.
''We can negotiate… let me go in and speak with him, surely Vlastimir will understand the position he is in and will be very willing to agree to something favorable for the basileus… without committing his forces to a siege'' the imperial diplomat said.
I sighed and pressed my fingers against the bridge of my nose as I thought. ''Fine… but prepare everything for a siege anyway… that should give you more leverage in the negotiation… do it quickly, we do not want him to drag this out until his reinforcements arrive'' I said, still irritated.
''Yes, I will do that… give me a few hours… and we will see what comes of it'' the diplomat said with a smile, and left my tent.
Out of necessity, I ordered the siege equipment to be prepared and a perimeter to be raised around the fortress, taking prisoner the guards who had remained outside, since the gates had not been opened at any point.
For several hours, we watched the situation while digging trenches and driving stakes into the ground.
At last the gates opened, and the diplomat returned shortly after, followed by three young men.
''Well then…'' I said, noticing he had brought prisoners.
''The sons of Vlastimir… proof of his submission to Rome… everything has been agreed… he will return ten times what he looted and commit more troops to the campaign against the Croats and Franks…'' the diplomat said, clearly satisfied.
''It is something… it is absurd that he was asking for reinforcements while refusing to fight the Carolingian forces,he is a rat who should have been removed from here'' I said, irritated.
''There is no time to waste on a siege when this can be resolved through diplomacy… we have prisoners who will travel to the court of Basileus Theophilos and remain there so their father thinks twice before attempting anything similar, especially now that all his heirs are in our hands'' the diplomat replied.
''Good… what about the recruits I need… I require Serbian troops better suited to this terrain, not just the Slavic cavalry I currently command'' I said, noticing that the diplomat would likely return to Constantinople soon.
''That is something you can discuss with Archon Vlastimir… now that we have his sons with us, I doubt he will resist much, considering they are now… guests of the basileus in the capital, and will remain there until Vlastimir dies of old age or by other means'' the diplomat replied.
''Good… I will speak with that serpent and see what happens… tell the basileus that I need reinforcements, I cannot conduct a campaign relying only on foederati recruits… I need Greek, Armenian, or Pontic troops… there is a limit to what I can do'' I said, calming slightly now that this had not turned into a siege.
''We will see what can be done. You understand better than anyone, strategos, that the campaign in the east against the multiple Abbasid claimants has the full attention of the basileus… while we continue advancing and taking cities the Abbasids cannot defend, we are consolidating the region… especially since the basileus is preparing a campaign to reclaim the breadbasket of the Empire'' the diplomat said with a smile.
''Egypt'' I said immediately.
''Exactly… the rebel governor has a considerable army, so the reinforcements you request are being prepared for that… I will see what can be done to send you something. We may be able to provide more gold and supplies so you can hire mercenaries or conduct further recruitment among the foederati'' the diplomat said, gesturing to the scholai to take the prisoners and prepare to move them.
I sighed deeply as I watched the diplomat leave.
It seemed I would have to continue the campaign with my own means… abandoning it now was not an option… in any case, if I managed to secure the gold mines of the Carpathians, this would be mere small change compared to what I would earn exploiting them, and I doubted Theophilos would deny me ownership after everything I was funding myself.
''Good… no time to waste, I need that permission to recruit Serbian forces before starting the campaign'' I said, looking at Sigurd and the other Varangians who were waiting to see what would be done.
Without another word, we began to dismantle the siege camp and requested an audience with the archon to present my demands.
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