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Anno Domini, 832-November–December-12
''Basil, the mercenaries are breaking and running. They're trying to get back to the camps'' Sigurd said while pointing toward the mercenaries who were fighting to defend the first line of the camp's defenses.
''Close ranks. If they try to flee the battle, kill them'' I said while watching the mercenaries continue fighting against the Frankish vanguard that was trying to push deeper into our camp, while several mercenary companies were attempting to abandon the fighting without having any good way to escape.
The battle had begun quite some time ago and the Franks had gathered an enormous number of troops in an attempt to force us to abandon the siege of Rome, but so far every skirmish that had taken place had ended largely in our favor because of the superior quality of our troops. It did not matter much that they had more men when many of them had received only basic training to defend themselves and wore armor they had dragged out of some forgotten storehouse.
But those numbers they had gathered to try to force negotiations or harass our flanks and surrounding positions had now become their greatest weakness. With winter approaching and the Italian harvest having mostly been burned away by our countless battles and the destruction of the ports, the moment the Alpine passes filled with snow, that Carolingian army would be completely isolated from the Carolingian Empire. The monumental logistical effort required to feed such an army would collapse and they would become victims of their own numbers.
So all we had to do was hold here in our fortified positions against their attack or their eventual retreat. And that attack had finally come. We only had to defend ourselves and the best of the Frankish forces could not even properly participate because our defensive positions, filled with trenches and ditches along with the multiple artificial waterways created by diverting the Tiber, had turned our positions into a wooden fortress that Frankish cavalry could not strike effectively, forcing them to fight on foot.
''Come on, come on. What is happening with the scorpions? Why aren't they harassing the Frankish lines?'' I said while looking toward the engineers who were struggling with one of the many siege engines we had been using to disrupt the attack.
''One of the torsion springs broke'' one of the engineers shouted while they appeared to be dismantling the scorpion almost completely so they could repair it.
''The mercenaries will not hold much longer, even if we force them to fight to the death. Who are we sending in to relieve them?'' one of my commanders asked while we watched everything from the highest wall of the northeastern kastro.
''The themata. For now send messengers to the southern camps and have them begin sending fresh men, but make sure they remain alert for any movement from Rome'' I said without taking my eyes off the battle unfolding ahead of us.
''As you command'' my officer said before beginning to descend so he could organize the men waiting in formation to be the next ones sent into the bloody battle.
''Get the archers into position quickly and have them fire repeated volleys into the Frankish formations concentrated in the fighting'' I said while pointing toward several officers so they could move some tourmas of archers into position.
''You're going to hit the mercenaries. They're packed too closely together'' Sigurd said while leaning against the wooden defenses of the kastro.
''Even better… it is not as though I particularly want those mercenaries still standing afterward. I do not trust turncoats and I am certainly not going to trust men who changed sides for gold, so the best thing we can do is use them to bleed as much as possible and reduce our own casualties'' I said with a slight smile while watching the Franks slowly penetrate the second ring of defenses as the mercenaries were gradually overwhelmed and began trying to retreat back inside the fortifications.
''Uh… not even a little sympathy for your former colleagues, huh?'' Sigurd said while I could make out his eyes behind all the steel he was wearing.
''I never sold my loyalty for gold. I always honored my contract with absolute loyalty… and because I wanted to kill Bulgars, nothing more. This way I quickly get rid of these men who cost us so much while also inflicting severe casualties on the Carolingians'' I said while hearing a catapult launch a mass of projectiles toward the Frankish lines.
I watched several hundred archers take position along the third ring of our fortifications and begin firing volley after volley into the air. The arrows quickly came raining down upon the formations of our enemies, although more than a few struck our own mercenaries as well.
The arrows continued falling as the themata formations approached and the Varangians who had been blocking the mercenaries' retreat moved aside, allowing the themata through. Several groups of mercenaries finally fled the direct fighting while the few who were still maintaining discipline and fighting in organized ranks withdrew as more themata formations arrived and began engaging the Frankish formations.
''The fighting at the northern fortress is going well. The Slavic forces have the pressure from the Franks under control, although the local soldiers are not doing well'' a messenger said while bringing us a report on what was happening at the other fortress.
''If necessary, they can give up ground, but we cannot lose discipline during the fighting. They can break the encirclement and everything else, but if they cannot get supplies through to the inhabitants of Rome, then it accomplishes nothing'' I replied to the messenger.
''As you command'' the messenger said before heading back down the stairs and mounting his horse to gallop toward the camp that was under attack.
The themata finally entered the fighting while the mercenaries withdrew completely from the battle, with very few remaining compared to the several thousand they had once numbered. Barely a thousand mercenaries had made it out alive.
Clearly, the themata soldiers were performing much worse than the mercenaries because the difference in combat experience was far too obvious, but since our objective was not to win decisively and only to maintain the formation and preserve the siege, it was acceptable considering that they were fighting Frankish men-at-arms on foot.
More and more troop movements became visible as the Franks withdrew and returned while reorganizing their formations as we recovered the ground lost to the constant waves of Carolingian attacks that repeatedly tried to overwhelm the defenders with sheer numbers of levies although a considerable part of their forces remained divided to defend the other camps that were not under pressure.
But after multiple rotations of themata soldiers occasionally alternating with Varangians, finally after a long battle that had begun in the morning, by the time the sun was almost setting the Carolingian withdrawal was complete while much of our outer defenses had been destroyed.
''Well, we won'' I said while looking toward the horizon and the camp filled with dead from both sides.
''I don't think we killed enough Carolingians to call it a victory'' Sigurd said as he began following me looking somewhat disappointed by the battle.
''Don't even count the mercenaries among the losses. They were practically free if you think about it. Now we save a considerable amount of silver and gold that we no longer have to pay them. The Carolingians lost highly trained troops and with the date and the snow soon to fall, they will have no choice but to return north of the Alps or remain here fighting with severe supply shortages during winter while I have a solid supply line that has never stopped. We will crush them once their horses run out of food'' I said as I descended into the camp watching the physicians and surgeons treating the wounded.
''So we pursue them?'' Sigurd asked while making a motion as if preparing to put his helmet back on and chase them.
''No, we don't have enough cavalry. I wouldn't risk moving our army north to pursue them. The Franks have around twenty to twenty-five thousand horses mobilized. If we had all the Slavs with us I could tell you yes, but we only have twelve thousand horsemen. In any battle we would be fighting at a disadvantage, so it is better not to. We cannot do much more than this. All our horses are already in Pannonia. We only need to take Rome and we will have won the war, then we will negotiate peace during winter. Preferably, let us hope we can demand whatever we want from Italy. With the Alps closed by snow, the sea under our control and only limited passes available, we should be able to demand whatever we want'' I said happily.
The Carolingian retreat went exactly as I had expected. As soon as the snow began to fall, the Carolingians pulled back and divided their forces closer to their logistical lines through the passes that remained open once the Alps were no longer easily traversable.
And according to the scouts, many of their troops had been sent elsewhere, so it seemed they had been dispatched to Pannonia.
A few days later, papal envoys began negotiating the surrender of the city because apparently they had somehow learned that the Carolingian army would no longer be coming to their aid, so they had begun negotiating terms to hand over the city and end the siege.
Over the previous days we had begun seeing several fires inside the city, which indicated that they were burning the dead, so there must have been some kind of plague within the city that had forced them to burn the bodies.
So for several days the surrender of Rome was negotiated. Finally, much of the Aurelian Walls had enormous breaches and all that remained was to clear away the rubble so we could enter the city and take it by force.
So finally when the negotiations ended and they allowed a contingent of my troops to enter the city while much of the city's forces surrendered their weapons, we began breaking apart all the blockages along the Tiber River so that the water could flow back into the city.
The work that had taken months to complete now had to be reversed so that water could return to the city and the people could have something to drink because it seemed that water had become scarce.
Before entering the city of Rome, I made sure that whatever disease had been spreading inside had been brought under control because the last thing I wanted was to fall ill with something before I had to return to Constantinople.
So although Rome was now officially under the control of the Empire and I had a meeting with the Pope and members of the curia, I made sure that the bodies were buried or burned to avoid any problems.
So when everything was finally ready, my personal guard and I rode along the Roman roads toward the Basilica of Constantine where the Pope and the Curia were waiting for me to hear the terms imposed upon Rome.
''This is the famous Colosseum of the Romans where they held their gladiatorial games, isn't it?'' Sigurd asked while looking at the structure.
''No… this is the Flavian Amphitheatre, built by the dynasty of emperors of that name. It is called the Colosseum because there used to be a statue around here that was… extremely tall, made of bronze, depicting a Roman emperor… a colossus. Over time the word changed until it came to refer to the amphitheatre itself because of that colossus and that eventually gave us the word Colosseum'' I said while pointing toward the amphitheatre.
''You and your books, Basil… always taking the fun out of life'' Sigurd replied with a slight smile as he began riding toward where the meeting with the priests awaited us.
''Eh, well… yes, actually. Only so that some aristocrat doesn't try to make you look like a fool later, but you would probably break his jaw with a punch if that happened'' I said while shrugging my shoulders and spurring my horse forward.
''That I would. Straight to the jaw or I'd just headbutt him hard enough to break his teeth and nose'' Sigurd replied while mimicking the motion of throwing a punch.
''He, he, he. Well, now you are going to see something very entertaining: watching a religious authority crawl to survive'' I said while looking down the road.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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