[BC 2.3.2 AAR] Resurrection of the caliphate

[The Kybrothilian]

Ok here goes another attempt for an AAR, this time with M2TW.

Faction: Abassid caliphate
difficulty: M/M

Enjoy.

Prologue

The advisor entered the room. He walked slowly forward to the end of the room, where a figure clad in royal clothes sat upon his throne. That figure was Al-Mustadi, the very caliph of the Abassid dynasty. As the advisor closed upon him, he raised his head, ready to talk.

"Tell me, Hassan, when was it when the great Abassid caliphate last ruled over all of the Ummah?"

Hassan the advisor, though little puzzled by the question, answered: "A many century ago, my caliph, it was so."

"Really?" Al-Mustadi asked. "What, if we could see those days of glory in the present time? What if the might of the caliphate was restored?"

"I see no reason why that couldn't be possible." Hassan answered. "But to achieve that, a great amount of work must be done."

"And that is whay I am planning to do." Al-Mustadi said. "And it is also why I called you here."

"For too long, the title of the Caliph of Baghdad has been put a ceremonial. The Persians have held a strong grip over us, and our might had been nothing. Their power was then broken by the Turks, who were no better. Now the Seljuq dynasty has shattered, and the islamic world suffers from disunity and chaos."

"And this cannot be allowed to stand. The caliphate needs to be reforged. All the muslims of the world must be brought back to the rule of one man, as it was meant to be."

Hassan nodded.

"Now, Hassan, what is of our state?" the caliph asked.

"The central Iraq is ours, my caliph. From Samarra to Baghdad, to Wasit, and to Al-Basra our territory extends. But much of the land is in hands of nobles, seeking to carve out their own realms. There is much room for us to expand." was Hassans answer.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

"But how much of a threat are these rebel nobles? I am not sure about my own nobles retaining their loyalty to me. Both Muhammad and Kaymaz are worrying me, for I cannot be sure if they stay loyal."

"Well, my caliph, there is one rebel noble who could be a threat. Saad Ibn Shanka has gathered a host of warriors, and is pillaging lands around Al-Basra. Currently, our armed forces are not large enough to contest his."

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"I see. Then we need to strengthen our position, before we deal with him. There is one man I can trust in serving me. Nasir, my heir holds much greater loyalty to me than any other noble. He is very young, but I trust him to lead the armies of the caliphate to victory."

"My caliph, what are your orders?" Hassan asked.

"My orders? My order is: send message to Muhammad and Kaymaz to levy more men and send what is available to Nasir. Meanwhile, send word to our diplomat to go and secure relations with other states, muslim or not."

"As you will, my caliph." Hassan said, and left the room.

It is time for resurrection, thought Al-Mustadi in his mind.

[The Kybrothilian]

Chapter 1

Thus, Nasir was sent to lead the armies of the caliphate. With conscription from the settlements, the army was grown into a size of nearly 3000 men: It included 900 Nubians, 850 Kurds, 300 Bedouins, 300 Arabs, 325 Faris warriors, and 150 Ghulams, as well as Nassirs own 30 bodyguard.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The first target was then chosen. The nearby town of Al-Hirra was an excellent place to start the conquest from. The town was under the rule of a noble named Nezar. He had a good garrison of Arab soldiers to defend his capital, including a renegade detachment of the Caliphs own Al-Abna corps. To defeat and destroy these traitors was a matter of honor for Nasir. On the top of that, the caliphs council agreed to provide quality troops to the caliphs cause if the town was taken.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But he decided not to prepare rams for a fast assault. He reasoned, that the small size of the town, coupled with the quality of the garrison would make the attack costly one. He knew the town wont last long if held under siege, so he opted to wait until the shortage of supplies forces Nezar to sally out and fight him on the field.

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Meanwhile, diplomatic relations had been forged with few nearby states. The fledgling Seljuq state of Irag, the kingdom of Georgia and the eastern Roman empire all agreed to give trade rights for the Abassid merchants. On the other hand,the Seljuqs, somewhat feeling threatened by the Abassids new vigour, sought an alliance with their western brethen, the Rum sultanate.

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After 2 years of siege (a timespan, in which the crown prince was able to get a wife for himself) Nezar was forced to break out his town and confront Nasir.

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The battle begins.

[The Kybrothilian]

Chapter 2

Nezar and his men started to pour out of the town. Nasir, noticing this, quickly ordered a re-organization of the battleline.

"Spears, form up! Javelineers, cover the flanks! Swordsmen, position up behind the spear lines. Cavlalry on the wings! Archers, provide covering fire!"

The Nubian archers showered arrows on the enemy forces, and were joined by the Faris and Ghulam cavalry soon after. The enemy archers answered in kind, covering their comrade's advance.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The spears got their time and lined up, bracing themselves for the inevitable attack. The nubians were stroke the hardest, as Nezars lancer bodyguard smashed through their lines, killing dozens. The infantry followed behind, attacking the bedouins on the left side. Nasir ordered his swordsmen to launch a counter-attack, while sending his own lancers to circle around the battle. All the while, javelins and arrows flew in the air.

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It was from Nasirs own cavalry forces that the decisive moves came. The Faris cavalry charged in to the combat, enveloping Nezars bodyguard, while the Abassid lancers and Ghulam surrounded Nezars horse archers. Finally, Nasir threw his own royal bodyguard in to the fray, and it was then, when Nezar fell in battle.

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With the death of their leader, the rebels started to loose heart, and fled back to the town. The last troops to break where the archers, who fought against Nasirs forces for a minute or so, before surrendering. The battle was then over, thought it had seen many soldiers dead.

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[Maltacus]

Great to see a Broken Crescent AAR! A really underrepresented and great mod.

Some thoughts:

Keep having dialogues and so on depicting the internal strife and other story-elements, that adds a lot to the AAR.

While I always like to see how other players move their armies and so, the zoomed in pics of the battle are great and add to the suspense. It is very nice how you link some of them together to illustrate a section of text. Keep it up.

Adding spoilers for battles and maybe even longer episodes as the updates grow might be good, especially for readers with slower connections.

I think battles look much better with banners disabled but I guess some people like them. I respectfully vote for their removal.

[The Kybrothilian]

Thanks.

Dialogues will appear at some points. I intended to have the dialogues between the caliph and his advisor, but sharing some light on the other characters might happen in the future.

Spoilers will be used in the future as well.

Hmm, I don't actually know, how to remove banners, could you tell more about this?

[Maltacus]

In the ...Medieval II Total War/mods/Broken_Crescent_kingdoms folder you have a CFG file named bc_kingdoms or something like that.

Open it and change

show_banners = 1

into

show_banners = 0

(under [video] )

Alternatively you have to change the configuration for vanilla medieval if the Broken Crescent CFG file does not include banners (which is perfectly normal since mods CFG:s often don't include everything). Then you look at the Medieval II Total War folder for the "medieval2.preference" CFG file and set the show_banners to zero in the same way.

[The Kybrothilian]

chapter 3

The doors of the room opened. In walked Hassan, with a message with him. On the other end of the room Al-Mustadi was standing with his back towards the door, reading a Haddith. He became aware of Hassans presence very quickly and made him a question, although without turning himself to face him:

"Do you have Nasirs message with you?"

"Yes my caliph. Here it is."

Hassan handed the message to Al-Mustadi, who then started reading it.

Dear father, and caliph.

It is to my honor to inform you, that the castle of Al-Anbar is now part of the caliphate. The rule of the renegade ruler Mudher has been ousted, and the denizens of the settlement rejoice at our coming. The Askari cavalry that the council gathered up after I took Al-Hirra proved useful in the taking of Al-Anbar. The conquest has brought me recognization as a great leader and ruler. I have also been blessed by God with a firstborn son of my own. Hufaza shall inherit my place when the time comes.

But now father, as Baghdad is the seat of your power, wouldn't be necessary for me to have a seat of power of my own? Could this be provided to me, as well as those who will take the crown heirs place in the future. What ever is your response, I shall continue to carry out the quest to unite the islamic world under the caliphate.

May God bless us all

~Al-Nasir

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Al-Mustadi lowered the message.

"Interesting. Now the southern regions of mesopotamia are under our control."

He made a signal, after which a scribe appeared in front of him, ready to write.

"Write him this..."

Some minutes passed as Al-Mustadi described to his scribe what the letter to Al-Nasir will have. When the letter was complete, Al-Mustadi took it, and passed it to the messenger.

"Here. Deliver it to prince Al-Nasir with haste."

"As you will my master." Said the messenger before leaving the room.

"Now Hassan," Al-Mustadi turned to address the advisor. "what other news are there?"

"News in diplomacy, my caliph. As per your orders, our diplomat has contacted the Ayuubids and initiated diplomatic relations. Trade rights and an alliance have been sealed with them."

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"Also, a diplomat from the Immamate of Oman arrived to Wasit, asking to set a truce between us. Kymaz has acted according to your will and signed the ceasefire."

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"Good to hear. Now, anything else?"

"yes, my caliph. A new war has broken out between the Seljuq state of Hamadan and the christian kingdom of Georgia. According to our spy, the Azeris of Ganja have rebelled from the Georgians and declared allegiance to Hamadan. This can only be a sign that the Seljuqs are growing stronger."

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"In addition, our royal merchants, who have been travelling to west for trade opportunities, have seen troublesome sights. The Franks of the Levant have taken control of both Antioch and Halab, and are now sending forces to upper Euphrates. They are most likely going to close upon Al-Ruha, which the crusaders call Edessa."

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Al-Mustadi stayed put for a moment.

"Thank you, Hassan. You may leave now."

"As you wish, my caliph."

Hassan left the room, leaving only Al-Mustadi and his scribe and the 2 guard to the room.

[The Kybrothilian]

New updates are under work and should be released within the following week.

[L-Burna]

Nice AAR. I enjoyed reading it and I'm looking forward to the next chapter!
You could have showed more about the battle in your latest update though, but otherwise it's good.

[The Kybrothilian]

Nice AAR. I enjoyed reading it and I'm looking forward to the next chapter!
You could have showed more about the battle in your latest update though, but otherwise it's good.

The battle was done with auto-resolving, so nope.

[The Kybrothilian]

Chapter 4

"Great one, A messenger is approaching." the guard infromed to Al-Nasir. Nasirs army had set up a camp at the time being. He choosed not to reside in Anbar itself, for he wished not to take governorship of the castle. He wanted a settlement more important to govern over.

"Good" Nasir said. "He must be carrying a message from my father."

"My master, a message from your father, the Caliph Al-Mustadi." The messenger said after arriving to Al Nasirs tent, giving the message to the prince as he did so.

"Thank you, messenger. You may leave now."

As the messenger left, Al-Nasir opened the message and read.

"My son

I approve of your need for an own settlement to rule over. And so I represent you with 2 choices, though for both you have to conquer them first. Regardless, the first one you need to conquer right now, fo it is important for the caliphate in itself.

The fortress of Kermanshah stands independent under the rule of a Turkish general named Qutulmush. However, it will be a natter of time until either we, or the Seljuq city of Hamadan capture the fortress. It is the only settlement standing between Baghdad and Hamadan, and who ever controls it has astraight run at the others capital. I want this fortress to have Abassid flags hang above it.

You can adopt this settlement as your own residence, but if you wish not, then you have another option. The fortress of Al-Mowsul is another important fortress, that we need for efficient troop recuitment. You can choose to govern over it instead, though I'll inform you that the current masters of the fortress have it even more heavily defended.

But for now, concern yourself with the conquest of Kermanshah. The Seljuqs are growing strong fast, and I do not want them to surpass us. You will supplied with more soldiers for the cause and they shall meet you before you leave the caliphate lands.

-Caliph Al-Mustadi."

"Well, now I know what is my next destination, at the very least." Al-Nasir thought. He turned to one of his guards.

"Send message to the officers to prepare the men. We will march to Kermanshah."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[The Kybrothilian]

chapter 5

Thus Al-Nasir and his army moved towards Kermanshah. After being joined by the reinforcements, Nasirs army numbered in 3500 men, including 1100 Nubians, 600 Kurds, 600 Bedouins, 900 Arabs and 300 Heavy cavalry. Once arriving at the walls of Kermanshah, he ordered siege equipment to be built. It took them many months, but by the time the assault was to commence, they had constructed 2 rams and 2 siege towers. Al-Nasir bulked up his army with 800 local Persian mercenaries, before starting the attack.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When the sentries of the inner castle of Kermanshah stepped to the edge of the tower to look at the surroundings of the fortress, they spotted a troublesome sight: The Abassid army had arranged itself for the attack at the southern side of the fortress. The defenders hastily started preparing their forces for the defence. Al-Nasir inspected his forces for the final time before ordering the attack.

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At his command, the first ram was then pushed towards the gate, while the siege towers where brought to the walls. many casualties were suffered when doing so, as the arrows of the defenders took their toll.

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Upon reaching the walls with the towers, the Abassid warriors unleashed themselves at the defenders. But the Turkoman soldiers were formidable fighters, and at the walls many Arabs lost their lives. At the same time the gates were smashed open, and Al-Nasir sent the heavy cavalry followed up by the Nubians inside the fortress. They were met at the streets by the Turkoman Ghulams and their allied Arab infantry, and a long struggling fight took place.

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The fighting continued for several hours, and both sides took many losses. The Arabs and Bedouins in particular took heavy casualties. Finally, the defenders on the right side of the wall broke and started retreating to the inner ring. While many of them were fleeing with abandon, a group of Turkomans were making an ordered retreat. Al-Nasir decided to see to it that they would not get inside, and set forth with his bodyguard to catch them. He caught them at the front of the inner ring and overwhelmed them.

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On the left side, the defenders fought to the last. The ghulams especially intended to battle to the very end. Regardless, the Abassids were victorius there. Al-Nasir gave the order to go and pick up the second ram to break the second gate. Inside the second wall ring awaited Qutulmush with his Ghulam bodyguardand the remaining infantry defenders.

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When the gates opened, the first one to attack where the Askari cavalry and the Kurds who had pushed the ram, followed up byt he rest of the army. Qutulmush and his ghulams greeted the Askari with their maces and the fight of their lives began. However, Al-Nasir manouvred his bodyguard around the fight and into the infatry covering behind Qutulmush. Soon the ghulams were surrounded and cut down without mercy. Victory for the caliphate.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[L-Burna]

The battle was done with auto-resolving, so nope.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Anyways the 2 new updates were also a nice read.

[The Kybrothilian]

chapter 6

Al-Nasir inspected the fortress of Kermanshah. It's mighty walls and high towers. Not to mention the awe-inspiring keep itself. This was one of the 2 choices his father the caliph gave him. This, or Mosul he could rule over, until it would be time to become the caliph itself. This fortress looked like a place for royalty, but for some reason, he wasn't satisfied.

"While this fortress is a mighty bastion fit for a prince, I do not wish to rule over it. It will be a constant battlefield between the caliphate and the Seljuks in the future, and I do not wish to rule a province that is under attack all the time. Thus I will instead choose Mosul as my province, for the upper Euphrates is a more intriguing land to me, than the mountains of Persia. But Mosul is still not part of the caliphate. Thus I will have to conquer it. Before I do so we must first take over the town of Kirkuk to it's north-east."

And this was what Al-Nasir set out to do. With a new army of nearly 3000 men, he moved towars Kirkuk. According to his spy, the town was ruled over by a Turkic warlord named Gökbüri, but his forces were much smaller than those of Al-Nasir. Confident enough, Nasir put the town under siege. He was planning to take the town with an assault.

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-

-

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Kaymaz, the lord of Wasit, was not feeling happy with the current events. He too wished to win glory in a battle and conquest against the caliphate's enemies, being not content with sitting in Wasit, rotting away. Thus, he decided to gather an army in an area north-west of Al-Basra.

"My lord, the troops are assembled. Men from Wasit and Al-Basra have been brought, and the total size of the army is now 3200 men. We also have a battery of ballistas as well." This was Kaymaz's officer.

"Good. We will begin our march to east the next day." Kaymaz replied.

"But my lord, what exactly are we going to do in the east?" The officer asked carefully.

Kaymaz gave a smile before responding: "We go forth and confront Saad ibn Shanka."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-

[The Kybrothilian]

Chapter 7

It had been a long day of fighting. Al-Nasir entered the town to inspect it, accompanied by his bodyguard escort. The town was silent. A struggle over it had taken place only a moment ago, that was costly but ultimately a victory for the caliphate.

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It had been the decision of the prince to attack and take Kirkuk before Mosul. He reasoned that by so he could secure the northern flank of Mosul to caliphate, so that there may not be an attack from Seljuks or Georgians from there. The garrison of the city was not great; and assault against it was a possibility. Gökbüri, the Turkic lord of the town would now be overthrown.

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To make sure that that his skilled Arab warriors would not need to suffer under volleys of arrows, Nasir sent the Nubian slave warriors in first to bring the ladders and ram to place and engage the archers before commiting his reserves in.

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The defenders launched arrows at their foes, using tar and fire with them to intimidate the Nubian warriors, but this was not enough. The ladders were set up successfully, and the Nubians climbed to the walls to engage the archers in melee. Unfortunately, the ram had collapsed; it had been faultly built. This had frustrated Al-Nasir, as he couldn't send his cavalry in at the same time as his infantry. However later on, the infantry were able to capture the gateway, allowing the cavalry to attack.

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Looking forward, Nasir could see a pile of bodies of both men and horses lying on the street.

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Here a battle had taken place between his Askari cavalry and Turkoman bandits. The light cavalry of Turks was no match to the Abassid nobility, who cut through their opposition with ease. From there they continued to the town square, where they combatted the Ghulam bodyguard of Gökbüri himself.

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To his left, there were some of his warriors, surrounding a group of Turkomans. These opponents had surrendered to the Abassid forces when they had realized that fighting was hopeless.

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Al-Nasir continued to the town square, where another group of his men awaited.

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Here they had fought the Ghulams, and triumhed. Gökbüri himself had fallen, but some of his men had surrendered. The warriors of the caliphate cheered at the sight of their general and prince.

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Later Al-Nasir made a meeting with his officers inside the town hall of the settlement.

"What is the casualty and prisoner report?" Nasir asked his officers.

"Great one, a total of 900 men were slain or incapacitated during the battle. We have 300 enemies as prisoners, what do you wish to be done with them?"

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"I have already given the order not to loot the city or kill any inhabitants, which has earned me the gratitude of the locals. It would be ridiculous to execute the prisoners. they are to be spared and released, but their weapons and armor will be confiscated, for they will not need them for now."

"It is not without reason that you are not only seen as a skilled and capable general, my prince, but also as a benevolent and kind ruler."

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"Yes, I know. Now, is there anything else?"

"My prince, our spy has reported back from his sightings at Mosul. The lord of the fortress is a man named Ahmed, Although his garrison is not large, he has at his side another warlord, known as Ghazi bin Maudud, who commands a host of cavalry."

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"I see. Thus we will have to reinforce our army. Go to Samarra, Al-Anbar and Baghdad in order to recruit more men into our forces. Our host must be much stronger for this battle."

The officers left the room, leaving Al-Nasir alone. He remained to assess things in the town...

[L-Burna]

Another great update. Looking forward to the next one!

[Stath's]

Very nice!!! Through your excellent AAR people can see, also, how great Broken Crescent is!

[Finlander]

Great! Keep it up!

[The Kybrothilian]

I haven't had a chance to work on this AAR for some time, due to other projects, but now I have a new update for you all. Enjoy.

[The Kybrothilian]

Chapter 8

In the middle of a river valley, was farmland. But nothing was right in this farmland, for it smoked heavily. The entire place was burning, and the locals, slave workers and slavers both had been slaughtered, their bodies lying on the ground, crowds picking flesh from their bodies. Admidst this devastation and death, walked soldiers. Soldiers keen to plunder and burn.

These were soliders of Saad ibn Shanka, a dread Arab noble, not holding any loyalties to the caliphate. He and his host of warriors had been plundering the country side of south-eastern Iraq for years now. Each time they found a center of a farmland, they attacked it, slayed it's occupants, looted anything they could and burned the rest down. Now, Saad was taking residence in a estate mansion he had taken over, enjoying the fine goods of the now dead owner.

In rides a scout.

"My master, we are approached by an Abassid army from the west. It is a force of over 3000 men."

"And who is the leader of this army then?" Saad ibn Shanka asked.

"My master, it is Kaymaz of Al-Wasit."

"Kaymaz..." Saad gave a loud laugh. "Kaymaz, that paranoid fool. Fearing the shadows of night, as if the devil awaited him there. He surely does not see a friend in the night. But I do. And I shall take advantage of this. I will destroy his army, and humiliate him on the battlefield. If an incompetent coward of a general with a rag-tag band of rabble is the best Al-Mustadi can send at me, then I can only laugh further at the patheticness of the caliphate. How can the caliphs claim to be true followers of the prophet, when they cannot uphold his legacy?"

"Send word to the officers to gather the men. We will march soon to meet Kaymaz, but will wait for the night, before we force him to a battle. There a victory shall be ours."

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Kaymaz was sleeping. Well, trying to sleep. As always, the darkness of the night bothered him, and if it wasn't for the oil lamps, the conditions would be unbearable for sleeping. But on this night, his sleep was not guaranteed at all. One of his men broke into his tent to give him the most dire news.

"Great one, the enemy approaches! They are close to us now, and will attack if we do not prepare!"

"W-What? N-No. No, no no, no! Not now, not now on this accursed time!" Kaymaz's worst fears had come true. He had to command a battle during the night.

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When the Abassid forces arrived on the battlefield, they were awaited by an enemy who had prepared well for it. Saad had occupied the higher ground, and his army was much stronger in it's quality of soliders and the size of it's cavalry contignent. This seemed a battle all too challenging for Kaymaz, who was not feeling confident at all. Saad on the other hand was feeling all too sure of his victory, as he observed the Abassid battleline from his elevated position.

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The Abassid center was formed from a line of spearmen, supported by javelineers and archers, and with a reserve of Arab swordmen. The rebel center was more skirmisher oriented, with some Kurdish cavalry backing the line up. The Rebel wings included many hardened Turkoman horse warriors, while the Abassid wings contained only a small number of Arab and Bedouin cavalry, backed up by a ballista battery.

As Saad had no intentions to abandon his advantegous position on the hill, Kaymaz had to make the attack. He had his cavalry close on the enemy wings, while the ballista would fire at them. On the center, his infantry would close in, archers and javelineers unleashing their missiles before the Nubians engage the enemy in melee.

And thus the engagement began with the Arab cavalry hurling themselves at the enemy cavalry, while the Bedouin archers, Kurd javelineers and the ballista unleashed a torrent of fire arrows at the rebels. The Nubians closed in to make their own attack, while the bedouin cavalry tried to manouvre around to get the best position for an attack.

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After some fighting to become apparent that the fighting was not going good for the Abassids. Kaymaz noticed how some of the Arab cavalrymen retreated, fleeing from the battlefield. "This isn't right. Those men were brave and disciplined. There would be no one among them who would leave their comrades to fight alone unless... those are the only ones left." Kaymaz was right. His cavalry had been nearly wiped out in a combat against the Turkoman riders. Kaymaz now attempted to fix this, by diverting some of his Nubians to the flanks, while committing his reserve swordsmen to the fray. Saad also noted the wavering of the Abassid army, and decided to further pressure his foe by sending his Kurdish cavalry in.

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The situation was spiralling out of control for Kaymaz. The Bedouins too had been routed. The Enemy cavalry now surged forward, engaging the archers and the ballista in close quarters. The Abassid forces were being surrounded from all sides, and many started to flee, attempting to escape the death trap. Kaymaz, trying to desperately save the army from defeat, launched his bodyguard at the enemy, hoping to inspire his men.

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But there was nothing to be done to salvage the situation. The Abassid army had effectively lost the battle. Kaymaz, allowing the shame of defeat, and the fear of night get the better of him, fled the field, and so did those few survivors who were not killed. They would only meet up at Al-Basra a week later.

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Shame had been brought on the caliphate, and Kaymaz was nervous about future sanctions...

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