Chapter X: War in the West
From the writings of Basileios Ioannis Komnenos, 1139 AD,
The time has come to test the true metal of Rome. The Serbians must be struck and they must be struck hard, before they have the chance to challenge us. In Italy, Venice seems to have seized most of Northeastern Italy and signed an alliance with the Norman lords of Sicily and Naples. There is no more time to be wasted.
If the Roman territories in the Balkans are not unified quickly, I fear we will find ourselves quite unprepared to face the Italians should they attempt to invade. That being said, I have made the arrangements and sent Manouil his orders. With even the smallest amount of luck, Vrhbosna will prove easy to take and Ras will be ours to seize at will.
From the writings of Manouil Komnenos, 1139 AD,
I wasn’t expecting to have to mobilize my forces so soon, but my father’s instructions were clear. My men haven’t even had a real chance to recover from the last fight, and we are already making preparations to march into hostile territory again. I know that they have the strength to overcome whatever the Serbians will throw at them, but I feel awful asking them to do this so soon. Most of our units aren’t even at full strength again yet.
It’s kind of funny how life works though, it wasn’t even a year ago that I was celebrating my wedding and I thought that I could enjoy peace for a little while. Now I find myself strapping on my greaves and fastening the straps of my armor. Knowing I am going back to war makes my wife very nervous, as she saw what happened when war came to the gates of her city.
She comes from a wealthy and influential Ragusan family that my father thought would be helpful in securing the loyalty of Ragousion, and so far it has been fairly successful. Hers is a dynasty made from trade though, not conquest, and I don’t think she truly understands the life of a soldier. I have no real choice but to do my duty, and although it pains me to leave her so soon after our wedding, I simply must do what I am told.
There is a silver lining though, if anything should happen to me, at least I know that my line will continue, as my wife, Maritza, is already pregnant with our first child… I have been going through names in my head, I think I like Koulianos.
From the writings of Symbasileios Alexios Komnenos, 1139 AD,
I hope the Sultan puts up more of a fight than his sons. Most of the trouble that taking Ankyra proved to create was from attempting to pacify its populace, not actually taking the city. I don’t mind fighting soldiers, I have spent the better part of my life in the field, quelling rebellions and taking the fight to our enemies. It’s funny, but it seems that sometimes an angry mob armed with stones can be infinitely more dangerous than an actual army that is trained to fight. Either way though, Ankyra is no longer my problem as I have received orders to besiege the Turkish capital of Ikonion. May god watch over us.
From the writings of Manouil Komnenos, 1139 AD,
I marched into Serbian territory about a week ago, and now the town of Vrhbosna is within striking distance. There are no walls so there is no need for a siege, and the main Serbian army is there, just waiting to be wiped out. It’s strange, I know that tomorrow I will have to kill again, but this time my hands are steady.
Battle Report: Battle of Vrhbosna |
The plan of attack in this battle was to cut the enemy army in two pieces and to use the terrain, namely the hill in the center of the battlefield to my advantage.
The majority of the enemy’s forces started the battle on the hilltop, with a contingent of their infantry starting behind the hill, further in the town.
I began the battle by using my archers, both horse and foot, to open fire upon the enemy generals at the top of the hill. I was hoping this wood lure them down the hill and into the jaws of my heavy infantry.
This worked to some degree and some of the Serbian heavy infantry charged and was trapped under lots of fire.
The enemy’s forces further in the town meanwhile were trying to come around the hill and lift the pressure on the town center. I used my akolouthoi to block their advance, and being mostly just levy infantry, it didn’t take them long to break.
At this point I was free to advance towards the town square until two of the Serbian generals and their remaining levy infantry charged my forces, temporarily halting me in my place at the hilltop.
I attempted to bring some javelinmen around the mass of forces and flank the enemy, but the Serbian light cavalry noticed this was happening and charged right into them. I did manage to relieve them with my own light cavalry, but it was too late to save most of them.
Even without the flanking forces, it didn’t take long for my heavy infantry and cavalry to kill off the Serbian generals that were hindering us. (they were both named the same thing.)
I attempted to reform my forces before I advanced again, fairly successfully, but the enemy’s final general and the remainder of their forces charged my men, and I was forced to commit to battle once again. Before long the last Serbian general, the heir to the Principality, falls and the battle is won.
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From the writings of Manouil Komnenos, 1139 AD,
Well, we managed to catch the Serbians pretty much by surprise. Their forces were largely unprepared and underequipped, so my men had a huge advantage. Even so, I am proud of the performance of my forces in taking out another nation’s army so handily. I will have to give out extra rations.
In Other News |
Aragon bites the dust.
The siege of Bab al-Abwab begins. |
1139 AD Map, No FOW |
(Before the fall of Vrhbosna.) |