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Pov of Bardas
Anno Domini,833-October-5-November-25
"Basil is coming for us, and thus far, he seems invincible" I said, studying the maps of the recent campaigns and Basil's advance through Anatolia, which seemed drawn from the pages of history, like the conquests of the great men who came before us.
"You must not succumb to panic, basileus Rhomaion. The murderer Basil is winning victories against strategos who thought they could stop him alone, having refused to swear allegiance to you, whose claim to the throne of the Romans is the most legitimate… Viewed in another light, Basil is eliminating your rivals and wearing down his own forces in the process. His advance toward Armenia costs him a steady loss of men and supplies, which we shall exploit in due course" said one of the strategos in my service, dismissing the significance of Basil's advance.
"He has defeated four strategos in the past five months, and now he is attacking the fortifications of the strategos of Armeniakon. It is only a matter of time before he reaches our gates, marching against us, and we are not prepared… Most of the thematic troops serve us because we recovered Armenia from the Abbasids a few years ago, but their equipment is far from the best, and their training is even less adequate. We are speaking of the veterans of the finest general the empire has known in many years, and soon we shall be facing them" I said, shaking my head as I tried to find a solution to a problem that seemed to have none.
"The strategos of Anatolikon, Cappadocia, Seleukeia, and Paphlagonia were little more than a band of rebels who used their offices to enrich themselves. Their forces were poorly equipped and ill-prepared to face the veteran imperial troops commanded by the rebel Basil. Yet every victory costs him men as well. It is well known that he refuses to absorb the defeated thematic troops into his army because he distrusts them, so his losses go unreplaced. On the contrary, every engagement weakens him as he advances toward us. He is now occupied with besieging the fortresses of Armeniakon, giving us time to continue recruiting. Our themas remain intact, untouched by the ravages of war" said another strategos, who seemed confident.
"Yes, my son… We are fortunate that Theophilos chose to encourage the rebuilding of the frontier, sending great numbers of young men from the territories where imperial authority was strongest to rebuild hundreds of towns and cities. He intended thereby to secure a stable frontier and ensure that the frontier strategos had men to defend those lands. The regions surrounding Basil's seat of power have been drained of men; he has no means of replenishing his army, even if he wished to. For the moment, the advantage in numbers is ours, as the levies continue apace, along with the training of our troops to march against the traitor and avenge your sister" said my father, who looked rather weary.
"But that does not change the fact that we no longer have access to the great forges and workshops that supplied us with arms and armor. The local forges cannot meet the needs of so many recruits. Moreover, we have this difficulty in the east… Of the fifty-three thousand men we have mustered to overthrow the rule Basil has established in Constantinople, we can spare barely thirty-five thousand to march west, because the Abbasids are pressing the imperial frontiers, seeking to profit from the civil war" I said, looking at the strategos.
"The Abbasids' attention is fixed on the pretender in Syria, rather than on us. That man who has proclaimed himself basileus has only his soldiers' swords to uphold his claim, with neither religious nor dynastic legitimacy. He made the mistake of believing that many would flock to his standard, but he stands alone, relying on the region's great army, whose purpose was to defend the frontier against the Abbasids."
"Moreover, Basil's position is worse still. He faces rebellions throughout the empire and must defend Greece and the Balkans while also contending with the rebellion in Italy and the troubles in Aegyptus. He cannot defeat everyone at once, for he cannot be present on every front. The wisest course is to wait. The sieges of those fortifications have already delayed him, and it is only a matter of time before snow falls and blocks the passes through which he could reach us directly. That would give us another year to recruit, gather equipment from the forges, and extract iron from the mines. By then, we shall have more men than Basil, who will be forced to turn to boys and old men to replenish his ranks, and then we shall prevail" said one of the strategos, smiling with conviction.
"Yes… It is true that Basil is occupied with rebellions on every side, and that the mountain passes in this region may become impassable if the snowfall is heavy enough. That would force him to halt his campaign in these lands, but everything will depend on when he concludes the sieges of that rebel strategos's fortifications… If only the man had joined us, we might attempt something, but it would be unwise to venture into wholly hostile territory without proper preparation or local support" I said, folding my arms and shaking my head.
I walked across the room and stood lost in thought.
"Very well, we shall discuss this further at another time. Keep watch over Basil's troops and inform me if any siege ends or if they encounter difficulties. It would be unwise to draw him toward us just yet, for many of our men are unprepared to face his veterans. However great our advantage in numbers, we shall suffer grievous losses… Keep me informed of the work at the smithies, and we shall see what comes" I said, looking at the other imperial commanders, who nodded and returned to their duties, leaving me alone with my father.
"You are too afraid of facing this Basil… Though he has both skill and renown, we have let a fine opportunity slip away to strike while his forces are divided, besieging several fortresses in the thema of Armeniakon. We could have won a victory over him with the tagmata under our command" said my father, lowering himself into a chair with a sigh.
"Do you want to lead a host of newly recruited youths against the most seasoned troops in the empire? The best-trained imperial tagmata were put to the sword in Constantinople or joined Basil. Besides, he still has a considerable force of Varangians in his ranks, and I know perfectly well what those northern barbarians can do. They are enormous, clad in steel from head to foot. They would crush our men in an infantry charge and soon break our lines, held by soldiers with spears, shields, and padded armor. They would have annihilated us had we sought battle" I said, bringing my hands to my head as I studied the maps once more.
"He does not have all his veteran forces here. A good portion apparently marched south and west. He has only some of them at his disposal; we could have seized that opportunity to weaken his hold. But now we shall have to wait for winter and see what happens, because with Abbasid troops waiting for us to move and Basil at the gates of our cities and fortresses, every sign points to difficult days ahead. We need that time to equip our men and make use of the advantage we still possess: men available for recruitment" said my father as he examined the maps with me.
"This rebellion of yours was too hasty… I told you we should wait longer" I said through clenched teeth, shaking my head.
"That man usurped the throne that belongs to us, and you simply wished to give him time to secure his hold upon it? He has coveted the imperial crown for years, and when the opportunity came, he finally placed it upon his head. A commoner wearing the imperial crown, after murdering your sister and your nephew. What in God's name is wrong with you, Bardas? We cannot let this stand while he defies our rightful claim to the imperial throne" said my father, growing far more combative and angry.
"We do not even know what happened in the capital. I very much doubt there is any truth to the claim that Basil killed Theophilos. They were too close for matters to have ended as they did. However much he resented our presence at court, I do not believe Basil would have gone so far as to kill Theodora and my nephew. At most, he would have confined them to a monastery, as so many emperors have done with their political rivals. This rebellion was too hasty, and we lack the arms and armor to face what is coming. Were it not for the ample funds our service in the administration placed at our disposal to finance it, this rebellion would seem sheer madness" I said, rather bitter about everything that was happening.
"Whether you resent it or not, we cannot let this pass. Who knows what will follow? Clearly, for some reason, the aristocrats of Constantinople handed Basil the crown; otherwise, none of this would make sense. So compose yourself, and we shall see how the sieges unfold. We may not even need to wait for the snow if he fails to take the fortresses" said my father irritably as he left the room.
I did not like this rebellion at all… Basil might be a demon in human flesh, but unfortunately, he commanded an army of pagans who would serve him to the death, as well as possessing a keen tactical mind. Ever since I had taken part in his Bulgarian campaign, I had known we had a great conqueror on our side. Now he was my enemy, and that terrified me.
I had learned something from him, and that was the most frightening thing of all: Basil attacked only when he knew he would win, or after he had laid the groundwork for victory. At that very moment, he was besieging four fortresses in Armeniakon, clearly seeking to lure me into a battle I would almost certainly lose. He had a veteran army of exceptionally well-equipped men; if I gave him the battle he sought, he would tear my forces apart in the field, using his Varangians to break our infantry formations. Still less could we withstand his heavy Varangian cavalry, which, though less heavily armored than the cataphracts, was more agile and better able to outflank us and deliver a devastating charge. The task of stopping him now fell to me, for no one had yet succeeded. I knew perfectly well that even if I worked a miracle and defeated him in a defensive battle, he would return later with fresh forces. He remained a friend to the pagans, who would flock to his standard to enrich themselves by plundering the Romans.
The days passed as I received constant reports from my scouts, hoping to gain time and see the snow fall so that I could train my men a little longer before subjecting them to the hardest trial of their lives. Yet fate seemed determined to deny me that respite, for news soon arrived that the fortresses were beginning to fall. The death of the region's strategos during the assault on his fortress at Amasea hastened the fall of almost all the others, leaving Basil free to march against us.
But just as we began preparing to meet him on the ground near the mountain passes of Koloneia, Basil chose not to advance against us and marched south instead.
All my commanders believed this proved that Basil was fleeing before our superior numbers, yet he still commanded an army of some forty thousand men.
I tried to track his movements, but he passed by the themas of Sebasteia and Charsianon and continued south, leaving behind numerous fortifications held by substantial garrisons.
Although everyone wished to pursue him, doing so would have placed us at a grave disadvantage now that the snow was beginning to fall. By marching south, he would force us to depend on whatever provisions we could gather from the countryside instead of our own granaries. That would leave us at an enormous disadvantage against the powerful imperial fleet in Basil's service, which could transport supplies far faster than we could.
Thus, I kept delaying our movements until my commanders' ardor finally cooled, and we concentrated on recovering the fortifications Basil had left behind. When we began the sieges, we discovered that many were held by the thematic troops of the region's former strategos. We managed to persuade some of those garrisons to surrender their fortresses, but the others resisted. That would keep us occupied through the winter, while our greatest threat marched south.
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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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