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Once Upon a Time….. The Slow AAR

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Chapter Four, part four

In the end it turned out that Arn had more than the promised half hour. As he pulled behind the infantry formations and began his to carry out his plan, he noticed a substantial shift in the infantry formations and he quietly wondered if Theodosios had new plan, or was going to take advantage of Arn’s plan.

Arn pulled his small army back until they were lost in the general confusion of shifting formations, supplies going forward, then turned further left, carefully skirting the entire left flank of the battlefield.

On the central battlefield, Theodosios kept having his archers raining death down on the enemy, though at maximum distance, the damage was not enough to win the battle and the archers were beginning to feel the fire from their counterparts, intermixed in the Duchy’s infantry formations. Behind the archers the infantry began a series of moves that ended up with the flanks heavier in forced and the center rather thin, the cavalry had pulled completely behind the infantry, and by the looks of it, out of view of the Duchy’s forces on the ground.

Arn and his troops had finally flanked the entire battlefield and were coming up on the left side of the line of bluffs that screened the enemy army, when he heard the trumpets that signaled the Byzantine attack. Arn could no longer see the battlefield and he could only imagine how the infantry slowly filtered through the archer’s rank, how the archers seized firing for a few moments, then resume their barrage as the infantry formed up in front of them, shields held high to avoid the enemy arrows.

He ordered a brief rest for his men, and leaned back against a large boulder, by now the infantry would be ready to trot forward, still in formation, shields high, and the archers would have resumed their barrage, perhaps they too had moved their formations forward, the better to cover the enemy, once the infantry engaged. He had no idea what the cavalry would be doing, but guessed he had another three or four long moments, perhaps half an hour before the infantry was fully committed.

He drank deeply from a water skin and handed it to Angelo, “ready?”

The Italian smiled, “always.”

Arn nodded and got up, signaling for the lieutenants to come closer, “all right, we are going to attempt to scale the left wall, kill of as many of their spotters as possible before we are detected and they counter attack, hopefully we will then be able to deploy the archers to cover the battlefield, before hey attempt the same.”

The assembled officers nodded, they had guessed as much, not an easy assignment it nevertheless carried the potential of gaining recognition and honor, a fast way to promotions in any army.

“Get your men ready we move out now, while the enemy is focusing on our troops.”

Slowly the infantry spread out and began ascending the low slope, as soon as the reached the rocky walls, they began searching out paths to the top, the archers remained below ready to pepper any adversaries on the top.

The climb proved to be easy, the rise wasn’t very high and a number of paths worn by falling water and wild game made the journey easier. Once every body had disappeared into the cracks of the rock the archers followed. Moments later the first Byzantine soldiers climbed out of the deep shadow and into the sunlit top. Blinded first for a moment, they nonetheless quickly went to work dispatching the small group of officers, couriers and guards that occupied the summit.

Arn quickly raised his shield and deflected a javelin, then moved forward to counter the thrower before he could repeat the action. He caught a swing of the defender’s sword on his shield and swung low to catch the opponent of balance. The man stepped back to avoid it and Arn quickly reversed the stroke to backhand across the face, then fainted right and with a quick thrust dispatched the enemy.

Arn stood for a moment and looked at the fallen man and his bloodied sword,

“Your first time?” It was Angelo, right behind him. Arn nodded, then inhaled deeply and moved forward to the edge of the bluff, he had a job to do.

A magnificent view opened up to him, the entire battle spread out like a sandbox below him. He looked back across his shoulder, the skirmish was almost over and the officers were already deploying the infantry in a defensive formation and the archers were beginning to form up on the edge. He nodded to Angelo, who unfolded the standard he had been carrying. A ragged cheer rose from his small army as they saw the colors of the Empire unfold.

Arn turned back to the battle below, trying to estimate what it was Theodosios had done, before he directed his archers. He looked closely; the cavalry were now amassed in the center, behind the archers. He turned back to the battle directly below, it looked like the center was weak, perhaps the cavalry was about to reinforce the center?

Angelo followed his gaze, “Look at the flanks.” He pointed, and now Arn could see that a majority of the infantry had been attacking on the flanks, with only a smaller force to create a pressure on the center and the enemy formation had reacted by reinforcing the flanks, thinning the center, but still the flanks were being pushed back slowly.

“Looks like he is going to try and push them towards the center, then attempt an all out charge through the center and crush the remainder between the cavalry and the two infantry flanks.”

Arn nodded, “I’ll direct the fire towards the back of this flank then, I doubt we can reach the far of on, if necessary then the infantry on that flank will have to hold.”

Angelo nodded and went to tell the archers and Arn saw that his standard had been noted in the Byzantine camp, tiny figures sped out from the knoll he knew to be the command center and moments later the archers below shifted left and right to allow the charge of the cavalry. Arn dropped his hand and his archers fired as one into the massed men below, firing well back from the front line to avoid friendly losses. A cry of dismay rose from below and a sizeable chunk of the center moved towards his position, and Arn warned his infantry to be prepared.

His height advantage wasn’t that great, only few high points on the ridge rose as high as the one he was standing on and with the slope on the inside being gentle and indefensible without a sizeable force on the ground, his position could easily become dangerous very fast, and that was properly why the Duchy had not chosen this as their final ground, but remained below.

He was so preoccupied with the force approaching the slope, that he missed the initial signal to the cavalry, but a quickly turned when the sound of thousands of horses bursting into gallop reached his ears. He quickly turned and saw the cavalry attack the weakened center along a rather narrow front.

The cavalry charge almost carried all the way through, and it was apparent from his position that the Byzantine horsemen would win the slugfest that followed and destroy the center. This was also obvious to the commander of the Duchy’s forces.

“He just committed his reserves.” Arn almost whispered, but Angelo nodded as their eyes followed the body of men move from the back towards the center. Arn turned towards his archers, they had managed to fire perhaps eight or ten volleys into the left flank, not much, but enough to create the diversion that weakened the center. Now they had to fight for their life. He directed half of them to fire at the reserves, though it would be little but a distraction, given the distance, and the other half to fire at the troops approaching their position.

Arn looked at the approaching troops, converging on the cavalry and himself, and then on the nearby flank, where the Byzantine infantry was doing relatively well. “Reverse that order, all archers targets the troops coming against us. Those that cannot target them for lack of sight, target the left flank.” The messenger nodded and ran of and Arn could quickly see the difference. The troops approaching his position had now reached the base of the slope and the direct fire from his archers caused them to hold up shields and spread out.

The young Byzantine was angry with himself for the confusing orders, he should have waited and only shifted the fire once, but done was done. Angelo looked on in a very detached sort of way. “That’s both good and bad,” he pointed to the way the enemy spread out.

Arn nodded, “yes, they will be harder for the archers to kill that way.”

“But also weaker at an given point along the line, though my main worry is that they will be able to flank your men if they spread out an further.”

Arn nodded and waived at another runner, “tell the archers to focus on the extreme flanks of the enemy so that they cannot flank the infantry.” The runner sped of.

“Now all we can do is wait,” the young Italian pulled his sword and inspected it briefly before sheathing it again.

Time seemed to pass very slowly to Arn, as the assailants were slowed by the low rise of the slope, the archers took a terrible toll upon them as they approached, but still it seemed like it would be a very even match. He briefly turned and inspected the battlefield, seeing that the nearby infantry battle was indeed going in the Byzantine favor. The cavalry had broken the center but was being engaged by the reinforcements and Arn was not experienced enough in cavalry tactics to gauge that outcome, the far away right flank still seemed to hang in the balance, the outcome of the fight in the center would most likely be the deciding factor.

He turned back to the immediate task at hand, the first of the Duchy’s forces had crested the hill and engaged his troops, but most hung back waiting until they could attack in force and to catch their breath. The archers had had to cease firing to avoid friendly losses and had shifted to the flanks and rear of the enemy formation. Arn threw one more glance over the battlefield to summarize the situation; he then drew his sword and went with Angelo to meet the oncoming enemy.
 
Originally posted by Valdemar
Stuyvesant, thanks :)

Sorry for the long delay, I've been preoccupied lately. :)

V
Click to expand...

Was well worth the wait, and I hold my breath to see how things resolve. Somehow I feel that something bad will happen during the battle....
 
Sorry all for the delays,

I will try very hard to finish the battle and then to conclude the chapter, after that, I think this will have to hybernate for a while at least until I get a handle on the family, the FC and Vicky :D

V
 
Sorry not to have followed your story lately. I see Arn will finally have some military experience despite his earlier reluctance. Somehow I doubt his wife is too happy with him risking his life like that.

Darn good battle and skirmish descriptions in these last updates V.
 
Chapter Four, part five

Arn walked purposefully towards the battle, just as the two forces connected, one runner was dispatched, “tell the archers that once they cannot focus on the battle up here out of fear of hitting their own, to focus on the battle below, if for some reasons this battle goes badly, tell them to retreat in an orderly fashion.”

He tightened his straps on his shield once and readied himself, I know I shouldn’t lead from the front, but this is my first battle, this is my men. With one last thought he engaged the first enemy, I hope father forgives me.

He ducked the first swing from the opponent and quickly twisted his blade under a raised shield to strike at an exposed loin, as the man fell he parried the next stroke on his shield and quickly banged his sword on the assailant’s guards to force some room. The man stepped back and with a fast feint to the left, Arn could nick his arm. His attacker almost dropped his sword, and with a powerful stroke Arn relieved him completely of his weapon and then his life.

Suddenly he had seemed to create a small pocket in front of his own line, no immediate threats around him and only Angelo to his left. He looked down the slope the nearby Byzantine flank had routed their enemies, so if only he could hold on and win, then the entire left flank of the battle would be Byzantine.

He didn’t have time to focus on the cavalry or the far of right flank, but dived into the battle again.

The fight moved back and forth, neither side being able to get the upper hand, in desperation Arn pulled out to see if he could change anything. His archers had pulled to the flanks, but were mainly firing single shots rather than a supportive fire.

A short lull appeared in the fighting as both groups pulled back to regroup and Arn quickly put his archers forward to harass the enemy, but it was apparent that something else was needed. He quickly issued a couple of orders and his archers massed on the center, behind a thin screen of infantry.

As the enemy charged again, the thin screen moved sideways allowing the full barrage of the archers to concentrate on the center of the opposing formation. The result was devastating, the center collapsed completely. Leaving the archers unprotected the Byzantine now charged from the flanks into the uneven severed line of the Duchy, using their uphill advantage and their two massed groups as shock effect.

The gamble had been worth while, leaving the archers unprotected could have proven catastrophic had the enemy guessed, but in moments the remainder of the enemy forces collapsed and the unprotected archers could pepper the survivors as the ran down hill.

The battle of the heights was won and Arn felt giddy, he had slain his first man and won his first battle. He slowly crossed the ridge to look at the grand battle below.

The grand view quickly told him that not all was won down below. The left flank just below him was winning and the Duchy’s force retreating, add the forces of his archers and they would soon crumble. In the center the cavalry charge had bogged down and the enemy reinforcements had managed to pluck the whole in their center as they countered the cavalry and prevented them from gaining momentum for another charge. The right flank was hanging in a balance, if nothing else; it could turn against the Byzantine any moment, leaving the cavalry even more vulnerable.

Arn gathered up his forces, told the archers to shift fire back in to the enemy flank and if possible work their way round the rim of the heights to keep adding pressure to the opponents rear. Then he ordered his two hundred men into a charge, hoping once and for all to break the left flank.

At first the forces of the Duchy seemed to steel themselves from the fire from above, then as the men started down the slope they quivered and finally they ran. Moments later the entire left flank were in disarray; orders quickly came form the Byzantine generals and the flank began to pivot to give the cavalry much needed support.

His troops smashed into the retreating enemy just as the main Byzantine infantry flank began to detach and swing right, towards the center and for a short moment Arn’s men was all that held the left flank, had the Greek opposition turned back, they could have taken the Byzantine in their flank as they did their pivot, but the Ducal forces were broken and they ran.

Arn paused, he was exhausted and decided to let his men rest here, in essence guarding the flank and rear of the infantry as they came to the rescue of the beleaguered cavalry.

As the infantry wing engaged the Ducal forces in contact with the cavalry the cavalry disengaged and pulled back, at first Arn was confused, cowardice was hardly the hallmark of the knights, but then he saw that they simply rounded the battlefield, using the now open left flank and came upon the enemy from behind. Arn looked up on the heights, he hoped the archers he had left there had the common sense to cease firing as the cavalry thundered by.

Arn could follow the cavalry’s progress as the dust cloud slowly moved right finally it seemed to stop and hover over the extreme right flank. Arn surmised that the Cavalry had struck at the back of the enemy and helped the far infantry flank, the battle was all but won.

*****

The rest of the campaign was uneventful, helped by the Venetian navy, the Byzantine quickly entered Piraeus and effectively cut of the Duchy’s supply lines. As the investment of the city progressed the dwindling supplies to the city became a trickle and then stopped. Within months the ruler of the small nation surrendered to spare his population and the Duchy of Athens was no more.
 
Great battle scene. Glad to see you haven't forgotten this gem!
 
A great victory, both for the Empire and for Arn personally. So let's celebrate, people :cool: ! (At least till the Turks turn your way :D .)

And hoorah for V., after all in these godlike hands of yours lies the ultimate responsibility for this victory ;) .
 
Sorry for all the delays, I'm on vacation, but as soon as I get back to work next week I'll pick this up again,

I've given this some thought and decided a different format, from now on I'll write each chapter more or less finished before posting, that way we shoud avoid more of those long drawn out battles and stuff :D

V
 
Update time, or rather excuses.

I have as you might be able to guess been rather preoccupied recently.

Some of it is personally RL stuff, some or most of it is Victoria oriented since I find myself involved in my first ever true beta :)

AS promised above I WILL update, but the sory is growing stale and I will therefore try and find a more suitable writing partner than my norwegian friend (sorry Norgs ;))

Next week I'm not online alot, but after that things shouyld ease up. (if not work kills me :D)

V
 
Came online, saw this AAR, saw the latest message was by Valdemar, happily dove in to find out how the story was progressing...

And found out things were not quite as I was hoping them to be. ;)

But hey! Glad to hear you're still planning on updating it! I'm looking forward to it and in the meantime, I'll just wait patiently. After all, isn't patience supposed to be a virtue or something? :D

Good luck with real life and here's hoping your work won't kill you! See you again in this thread in a week or so!* :)


*Hope springs eternal. :p
 
Chapter Five

Intermezzo

“This cannot be.” Arn slammed his flat hand unto the table, almost upsetting the delicate silver goblets. His father looked up, his voice betraying how many times he had repeated himself,

“Arn, calm down, he is the Emperor’s brother, he has every right and so does the Emperor, remember this is his decision.”

Arn nodded submission and reached for his goblet and Svend turned towards the window. His son sipped the cool drink and looked at his father as the older man sat gazing out the window into his beloved garden.

The years had been kind to his father and the old commander of the guard was still a formidable fighter and commander of men. Arn seated himself, his father was right, the Emperor had the final saying, in this as in all other matters of state, he leaned back, and indeed they could thank the Emperor for their good fortune. Things had been good ever since the annexation of Athens, the years had been blessed with peace, and the families surrounding Svend and Arn had prospered and put the quiet years to good use.

The first few years had been spend building the new army, in and around the city, and all the while Theodosios occupied and rebuild the conquered province, Svend and Arn had spend their time training, making sure the Guard was well under Ulf, and slowly building up the Empire’s forces.

When Theodosios finally passed away, the natural choice of marshal had been Svend and he had reluctantly accepted what was the pinnacle of his career. His first order of business had been to assume command of the main army, still in the south and leave the command of the smaller, but more elite army to his son.

Arn looked up as his father turned, “we’d better go, one isn’t late for the Emperor’s summoning.”

His son stood and together the two generals crossed the well-known rooms of the family’s house into the courtyard. Arn smiled, despite his father’s rank and long time seat at the council, he had never moved out of the house he had lived in, when merely a captain of the guard.

Father and son moved through the city, now again filled with hope and live after the years of peace and prosperity. How many years had it been? Arn couldn’t quiet remember, but for inexplicable the war against Athens had been the last for a long time and with the Turk preoccupied in the east the peace had brought prosperity and stability to the beleaguered city. Coupled with the Venetians actually honoring the trade, the city was in a good shape.

The two men moved easily through town, known as they both were and only a perfunctory check by the guards at the gates slowed them before they arrived at the anteroom of the Emperor.

As they sat there waiting Arn again got lost in thought. So many things had happened to the family since the trip to Venice. He was a father now, twice, his sister had finally married Alexios, and Angelo, Angelo, the cool and professional Italian mercenary, that was only supposed to stay for a few months had settled down here, found a wife and become Arn’s closest friend and confidant, even getting the spot as second in command in the nameless army he had helped create and train through all these years.

He sighed, things were about to change again, the Emperor had summoned them, and both Arn and his father had more than an idea what it was about. The Emperor’s brother, Konstantinos, had returned from abroad, or wherever he had been, as soon as the news of Theodosios’ death had been announced.

Arn’s line of thought was interrupted when a page appeared and beckoned them to follow. Arn stood up and restrained himself from helping his father up. Svend was still a strong man for his age, but time was finally catching up, and after a fall last year his legs had never been the same.

They followed the page into a small less formal room than the throne room, and bowed deeply before the seated Emperor. Ioannes sat on a large high-backed chair, almost a small throne, he waved dismissively with his hand and all servants left, apart from his personal scribe and the two ever present Varangians.

The Emperor gestured for his guests to help themselves to refreshments and when they were all seated, he sat for a long time in silence. Arn’s mind once again started wandering, looking out of the corner of his eye at the new ruler of the realm. The man had ascended to the throne only last year, and had so far kept the same faith in Svend and Arn as his predecessor, but he was still an unknown entity and it would take years before they would get as close as they had been with old Manuel.

Finally the Emperor looked up and his eyes bore into Svend’s,

“Marshal, this is no easy task I have before me.”

Svend nodded, he knew what was coming, they both did, and that was what had upset Arn so.

“My brother have returned, and have settled in the southern provinces, he is despite long absence an experienced officer.”

Svend remained silent, feeling Arn tensing beside him.

“He has requested that I make him commander of the Empire’s armies, in return for staying in the southern provinces as governor.”

Svend still didn’t respond, but Arn caught himself looking at the heavy baton in his father’s lap, the symbol of his rank.

“I have accepted his request, it is his privilege as my brother, and as such not unheard of.”

Svend nodded, he had seen it coming.

“But,” the Emperor held up his hand, “I haven’t told him yet, you are the first to know.” He looked Svend in the eye. “He will never be able to replace you, or your son, but duty towards family runs deep, and it would serve other purposes.”

Svend nodded, politics, not an easy thing to get around.

“I have however made some modifications to the structure of his command. He will command all field armies,” he held up a hand, “except the new one, its small enough that I can allow it to come under my personal control.”

Svend exhaled as silently as he could, there would still be a place for his son. The Emperor continued, “As usual the city’s defenses also falls outside the marshal’s duties, but the garrison commander will be not be changed, for now at least.” He looked at Svend apology in his eyes. Then he held out his hand.

Svend nodded a third time and reached for the polished wooden staff and held it out for the Emperor to take, as he did so, it slipped out of the Emperor’s fingers and fell unto the marble floor. With a loud crack the staff split in two and several pieces of the inlaid gold fell of. Arn quickly bend to pick it up. The Emperor looked at the pieces then handed them back to Svend,

“I’m sorry you couldn’t keep it under better circumstances, but at least keep these as a memory, my brother will no doubt have something elaborate made.”

They sat for a while in silence. Then the Emperor stirred, “I understand you will not take your son’s place as general of the new army? It would be your right.”

Svend shook his head; “No he has earned that rightfully in the battle for Athens.” The Emperor nodded, “Yes, and you, young man, you still have that Italian as second in command?” Arn nodded. “I don’t understand, you have Alexios of a renowned Greek family as your cavalry commander, he would be a better choice.”

Arn hesitated and the Emperor continued, “speak up, here in the confines of this room, I will hear only the truth.”

“Alexios is a great cavalry commander and an able soldier, but..” The Emperor nodded for him to continue. “He is not very well versed in modern infantry tactics, Angelo is, and when is comes to combined arms, Alexios still have some things to learn.”

The Emperor didn’t respond, and changed the subject, “I fear we will have need for them both soon.” Svend looked surprised. “The Turk is moving, rumor has it they have finished their war in the south and east. They have not breach our treaty yet, but they do ever eye our beloved city with envy.”

“So the day has finally arrived?”

“Not yet, my dear generals, not yet, but it will, and soon.”
 
Three days?!? I admire your persistence! :) And since Heagarty's Gluttonic tales have ended, I need something that will go on for a long while yet. Structures my life. :p

So now you have Constantine, a little army, an extra province and a battle with the Turk looming... Combined with your writing skills, this should be interesting. :)

BTW: is that an actual fact, that Konstantinos is the brother of Emperor Ioannes? And do you have any idea how old he was in 1424 (the year the game dumps him in your lap)?
 
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