Heirs of Heraclius, a no Islam timeline

[Silver01]

August was nearly gone by this point Yuan had taken Tanzhou but he did not move north instead he moved to the east to help in the siege of Fuzhou as he need to secure the coast in case something went wrong in his march north, control of the coast would mean that even if he lost in the rivers he would still be able to use his navy effectively, by the time he arrived the defenders were still with high morale as they news from the north arrived that the army would arrive in few weeks, however, some others visited the temples in fear others went to the great poet to seek his wisdom he was not shy he told them the city was doomed some of them understood some blamed him and others of lowering the morale and if the city fell it was going to be their fault.

One reason why the moral was still high was the lack of massive assaults, when Yuan arrived he simply also continued to wait near the river the city was hard to attack but easy to surround so he waited till they suffered hunger or destroy the long-awaited the arrival army.

To the north the siege also continued the men by mid-August despite rationing the supplies had all but disappeared nearly all the horses had been eaten and the civilians were eating the cats, dogs some even insects, by this time the general had reluctantly received reinforcements from Wang, he told him that not to contact him less he was sending news of the fall of the city, these troops badly needed it as the many assaults with siege ladders, but despite their hunger, the defenders repelled all attacks even burning one of their siege towers, alongside other siege engines that could have done intense damage the walls.

Jia by this time gave word to anyone who could help but aside from empty promises he would not be having any help his men and the rebels implored him to surrender, the rebel general offered clemency but also a position in the rebel ranks, but Jia refused and told his men that there was no fleeing as how the men were starving and could not even flee if they even tried, they held on.

the old book of tang mentions how during the mid-august the soldiers moved to attack as they moved to the walls and the instead of receiving siege engines , arrows and bolts rather some stick and thatch’s , the rebels were surprised as they picked them they looked at each other and soon laughed , some others began to taunt the tang it was obvious that they had run out of arrows .

The news communicated and soon the general Li Chengsi order a massive assault with he himself leading the attack as he moved closer to the wall an arrow threw him his horse as he was dragged away the other man were not as lucky dying in mass from the surprise, the rouse had worked so much so that they fled had the troops were not utterly exhausted and in their desperation having eaten their horses they could have sallied out and maybe lifted the siege, there was celebration and Jia gave them more rice than usual he wanted this to be their best meal and probably the last “decent one” what he knew became true the assaults to add to their suffering sleep deprivation spread ,as the siege dragged on the tang were now eating insects, tree roots some others a mixture of the few rice that was left , tea leaves, paper, and bark.

By September soon even the insects and flows of the city were eaten sickness spread and with nothing left the corpses were striped of everything and spread first to the soldiers some did not want to eat but hunger won out, while the civilians ate family members, they didn’t revolt due to their loyalty and false rumors that they would all be killed if they surrender, by mid-September only 200 fighting men were still there as most soldiers and civilians died, the men could not even shoot arrows despite their attempts the city finally fell , Li Chengsi quickly sent word to Wang and captured Jia and quickly ordered him to be given food and a good place to rest as the book of tang tells him that even the sickliest of the rebel camp looked better than the tang general , Li also sent word on to Wang on what do about him Wang hated him due to the severe delays he caused but Li did make a good argument that his loyalty , bravery and abilities as a commander.

During this time the general refused to talk to the rebels and wrote why they had not killed him, once he learned about why he flat out refused Li begged him to not let his bravery and talents not to go to waste with his death Jia replied that all men died, his men face death, you know me well for their sake and mine how dare I not die.

No matter how hard he tried Li could not convince him, reluctantly he ordered his execution finally the push to the south could continue or could have the siege was pyrrhic victory of the rebels, not only did Jia slowed them down the rebel loses were 25 000 to 30 000, the campaign reduced the number of soldiers for Wang who know had to contend whether or not to concentrate most of his force and take the tong pass, recruit more soldiers and move south and east the war in the north was about to reach its bloody conclusion.

 

[mane]

nice work so far and forgive me you forgot to threadmark your post

 

[Silver01]

In the south the siege dragged few assaults were launched until a smaller relive army went to “save” the city in late September, this inspired some inside the city to sortie and attack, while the details are not known the tang force got all but got annihilated the few survivors were arrested and according to the old book of tang condemned to be a show of terror to those who still resisted here the book of tang said that the great poet begged the rulers of the city to let him plead for their lives which they allowed in hopes that he would get killed.


Unknown to them Yuan and the great poet knew each other since the rule of the Qi , as he entered the camp the prisoners had different reactions some saw him with disgust for the coward he was other with the ray of hope in their eyes , as he went to Yuan he greeted him and wonder why he was here, the poet begged him for the lives of the men which Yuan responded that these men were fighting for a corrupt state, causing so much suffering

Yuan answered that he knew all of this and I know what makes a great ruler for do they not claim me as one? He said as he pointed to his inner circle

No, you are not better than thief you have lost your vision you gained power because they hate those who caused the corruption not because they love you, they love the wealth you have given them, the wealth you plundered from those you seek to save from others corruption and like barbarians you kill them but you are worse than them for they are at least honest and make clear their intentions in their heart said the poet


Yuan stood up in anger the poet replied: we knew what a great ruler for he had the fury of the barbarians in destruction but had the vision to construct as much as his furry destroyed you knew this more than most for you seen his actions and know corrupt them what would your children remember you

Yuan sat down his anger turned into a lost gaze at the poet, some of the men demanded that the poet be removed and whispered lies to stroke his anger, but as he was been removed he told him to think of his legacy, Yuan then told his inner circle to leave. A few hours later cheers could be heard inside of the walls as the great poet entered the city with the prisoners, their families came to greet them as a sea of emotion filled the place the local officials could nothing but cheer but others just pretended angry that the poet had not died,still, it was good morale boost as some people had begun to waver but now believed that this good fortune would lead to more , but as October came as the leave began to fell so to did the morale, the poet talked with Yuan to make a peace with him .


He went to announce to the people that Yuan would not harm them nor like in other cities even plunder them he would take what he needs to pay his army to settle there for winter and leave, the poet even announced that he was close to convincing him in their stay his men would pay for their supplies, however when he publicly announced it the officials of the city again chastised him for even daring to propose such a thing.

To give up now when they had resisted and why trust Yuan or worse yet why trust the poet? After all was he not sympathetic to the Qi cause? Yuan was too and yet he became no better than a bandit lord , who's to say that the poet's old sympathies were prevailing and that he was handing the city to the bandit? These questions posed by the officials created a rift between those who believed that the city was to fall and those who still lingered for hope.

Good news had arrived a tang army and the navy was close by but still, the poet mentioned how he would give safe passage to anyone that fled but if he saw a hint of plotting against him for this kindness he would reduce the city to ash, many did take the opportunity to flee and there were no attempt's of breaking the truce as the men defending were confident that soon they would be saved, the poet under the hand wrote :

They say we can't be defeated, they say they are to shatter yet in here were the field are abandoned.

It is in this prison where conscription still continues without end, it is where were children campaign.
It is in this doomed city where the officer shouts and the wife weeps at the sound of youth marching.

The times are hard yet you heard how angrily the officer shouted, to those not ashamed of their feelings of this doomed city, yet I
seem to hear the whisper of hope , they will not last fade with the sun .

The poet was correct merely 5 days he wrote this on the 4th of November the scouts reported that army camp had been destroyed, n night the horror of the officials it was the tang army with no hope morale broke as many just as the sun was setting moved to flee the doomed city .

 

[Silver01]

despite Yuan's attempts fire began to spread it was here when the most senior high official took his life and others did as well, as the poet was seen wondering walking calmly according to the book of tang he for a while helped people flee, and then he entered to a burning building to help a family while other sources saying he also helped but fallen debris fell on his head killing him.

Whatever the case the great poet perished in the fire but he would become immortalized as Yuan with his guard himself asked people were he lived and moved quickly to it he found it but not him he ordered the guards to stay there and stop anyone who tried to enter even if it was other soldiers as he went to find him he also appointed men to arrest the officials and to help fight the fire, as dawn broke by that time Yuan had found the burnt body of the great poet he quickly sent word to his reaming family while he waited for the arrival , he raided the treasury of the city and unlike his previous sieges he gave a bigger part to the men of the city 1/3 to his army 1/3 to his higher officials and the rest spread to the city.

He would spend winter in the city here the son and wife of the poet came with this he great burial began with the ceremony gone his resting place was a lavish one with many tomb figures and all forms of lavish decorations, but Yuan biggest gift to him was the saving of his library it said that we would have lost 15 to 30% of the works the historian reunited had they raided or if the fire consumed the library so as the waited in the winter to the north the situation was not getting any better, Jia had slowed him down so he used winter to prepare his forces to finally break the tong pass.


But the time lost gave one an ally one more chance Feng Xingmi reunited a bigger army and even hired tribes of the north and some Tibetan mercenaries of the now divided Tibetan empire , but he did not march most of his army the other tribes were to raid but worse yet he did not trust the Dabuyid empire still he left his central Asian holdings and knew that time was short to mainland china

In a mere 107 days he arrived with more troops as he hired more turkick mercenaries from the destroyed Uyghur khagante arriving with a total of 20 000 troops to Chang'an had more information survived about his march it would have become one of the biggest achievements of military history rivaling that of hannibal crossing the alps.

The tang forces also had prepared their forces in total they numbered about 60 000 strong but then a debate grew whether to defend the tong pass or with the superior numbers to crush Wang in the open field a debate occurred for days but it was decided that they would march to meet Wang , by early spring both the rebel and tang armies moved to fight .

Here in early spring the 40 000 strong army on both sides met with east of the tong pass the book of tang said that he had a great smile the fools has save him time he could crush them here take the fortress and in their panic and fear they would not even attempt an ambush inside of the pass both sides had similar formation the lighter infantry were to the sides in the case of the tang force to their center right and left their hexagonal and pentagonal shield with their Weapons ready for a charge while the light cavarly were on the wings
Both armies also had their elite spearman in the center while the crossbowmen and archers were on the second line and heavy cavarly in reserve

The men shook some reports said they pissed themselves out of fear but others mainly the elite and those of the west remained calm

Feng moved to the front been smaller than the and gave a speech:

loyal men do not serve two lords and loyal men do not flee when the heavens support them .

Iam the smallest of you yet i shall fuffill this task until my body breaks and stop only after I died or we have conquered , we see the banner of the enemy death stares at us, be of noble character for its better to face death here than have a shameful death or a long death in slavery

For How could a man hide himself from death in the bushes? How can a man hope to flee slavery in the mountains ? Consider why you are fighting for and the heavens will reward your sons .

On the other side Wang also address his troops : do not be intimidated by this rabble we have seen them flee before and when they see the see our strength and feel the strength of our soldiers they shall flee again .

After this Both generals returned to their positions and sent their missle units to the front the battle was about to commence .

 

[Silver01]

Well we are nearly done with china so that is good
But we will see central asia become important ( i think most would know why ) but iam working on some thing when we got back to heraclonas and co just that I will do my damn best with my limited writing ability to make major character development to the established characters and some new ones

 

[Silver01]

The missile units moved to their positions as the rebel moved their waved banners, taunting their enemy, but when they arrived at their position all around nothing was heard but the movement of troops and the words loose were heard, silence again filled the plain only surpassed by the whistling and buzzing in the sky were into the sky where the sun was blocked. The screams of men were intermixed with the cries of the injured and the thudding of the dead were heard on both sides, yet the orders were given again, and these were repeated nine times till the rebels retreated, With the tang sent the horse archers who pounced for a quick kill.


Yet despite the rain of arrows their will was stronger than their armor they quickly got behind the infantry and shot back, with the tang sent the combination of heavy but mostly light cavalry three times in they charged three times and three times the rebel line held, with this the tang sent part of their heavy cavalry commanded by Xue Li took the field and charged ,the book of tang stated: the forces of emperor charged they look like a mountain of iron hooves thundered the plain towards the enemy endeavoring to destroy the pretender.

Despite the prospect of impact, the forces they held their nerve and stood their ground however the cavalry split in two and charged, Lances and shield shattered and most infuriate frenzy began and they painted a path of blood through the battlefield, slicing through weak and cowardly as if they had brittle armor as others were trampled, their screams filled the insatiable thirst for blood and destruction of the tang.

Yet despite been pushed back the line did not shatter and kept retreating as the rebel cavalry moved Xue Li understood the danger and quickly retreated but the other commander kept plowing through the infantry until he realized that the enemy cavalry had surrender them what came next was nothing short of a massacre the book of tang describes:

Here and there amidst the slain those who yet still lived there alive and injured were seen slashing their necks and throats to draw out the remnant of their blood, while other had made if so, the horses killed them in the panic and those who was dragged out alive from under the dead, as the rebels were in frenzy of rage.


Seeing this Feng ordered for his infantry to advance with he himself leading it, the ground shook as the tang elite marched in unisons behind them the light cavalry in support, Wang then ordered his infantry forward under the command of Li Chengsi , the earth groaned as both armies marched to each other as the gap was getting shorter , the troops gripped their weapon and braced for impact faster and faster they went soon the sound of shouts and the clashing of metal against metal , the rebels pushed back and then the tang did so each counterattack had to pass over the mounting corpses, there was a howl of anger both sides as the tang got pushed back they gnashed their teeth and yelled as they thrusted with their spears as the ground became crimson the tang forces were scattering with the commanders specially Feng doing their best to rally their troops and they held for a while they were like a wall against the waves of the rebels who crashed and retreated.

But after an hour there was nothing but a whirlwind of disorder and violence as they pushed to finally destroy the tang dynasty, some sources say the guards of the emperor and the forces near him cried a great din and went to charge the enemy how ever the emperor himself said to stand down with many pleading them on how are they not to do anything, as the tong pass became closer Feng smiled for he heard the thundering of hooves the book of tang stated:

The tang had already been overwhelmed; despite their courage and determination, the rebels were already beginning to sing the hymns of victory, when the rebel rear faced an attack from the north from the karluk and tang cavarly who threw themselves on the "victors" , these fell in to the greatest disorder and confusion mixed with their expression of utter terror . Joining them was that mass of iron ( the Cavarly reserve of the emperor) that was in perfect formation they fell on the scattered rebels stabbed them horribly, forced them to retreat and snatched victory from their grasp.


The rebels tried to turn and form another line but all attempts failed as the Karluk /tang cavalry kept plowing as Feng and other commanders ordered a counter charge with their reinvigorated troops , soon it was all over but the slaughter was not over as the tang sent their cavalry and horse archers to pounce on quick kills ,by the afternoon the dreams of a new dynasty were destroyed, the battle had lasted five hours and the tang lost about 1/3 of their force while the rebels were utterly devastated .


Wang who never joined the battle was hit in the shoulder with an arrow and knocked From his horse and he was trampled to death by his own troops Li Chengsi managed not survive and quickly reached Louyang Which were filled with riots, as the news of the defeat spread other commanders and courtiers took what ever force they had and declared themselves to be the ruler.

In a mere three weeks Louyang was recaptured, Li Chengsi had cracked down citizens but they rose three times he knew unless he massacred a great portion of the city he would not be able to supress them posible betrayal was not an option , so gathering his forces he went east to were he had attacked Jai a year ago .


Authors note : well this was fun as you can Hopefully see ( and like ) this battle scene how ever it's not going to become the norm since it's not a high fantasy timeline iam after all imitating a alt histórical record and we all know how the histórical record is not always the best

 

[Silver01]

As the tang recovered their western capital there was a massive celebration finally free from the high “tribute” of his secret police was soon hunted down and killed , while these events occurred to the southern rebels were still moving north while they were besieging Xinzhou he marched quickly as he feared that he need to secure his position before the tang arrived and Yuan was moving Jiangling however he would never reach it , in April 857 the 69 year old would die however unlike Wang he had assigned his 36 year old son Yuan You to be his successor , however he still faced some rebellions that he crushed , after this there was debate attack Jiangling as the tang sieged Chenzhou so he quickly went to starve out the city as he had no intention to waste lives in assaults.



By June, the tang had taken the Suiyang and planned to move north at the same time they sent reinforcements to the south against the siege the first tang southern rebel engagements were indecisive however the first major one would be near Jiangling were Yuan won but he knew that this was not a major victory by early July a bigger army came the engagement lasted three days and resulted in Yuan fleeing to the south , by early August the tang army met the armies of Yuan little is known about the battle but it lasted four days and resulted with Yuan routing the tang .

By this time, the other forces were still laying siege to Xinzhou and news that a tang army was coming a debate broke out on to stay and defeat the tang army in the mountain ranges or retreat when they had the chance the news of the victory of Yuan reached them and so they decided to stay by late august they met but not very near Xinzhou , the city kept sending news that the army was marching in the Xianxia Pass here they were set upon by the rebels , the surprise was total thousands began to rain down their missile units as many charged the baffled tang , these hastily made a defense but many had already fallen soon composure broke and the slaughter began , almost of half tang army was wiped out.



The deception worked flawlessly as half of the army moved in the night while the other rebels light many fires and did some small attacks and hoped the defenders would not notice with the victory they hoped for the city to surrender but they resisted while the west another tang army faced Yuan who the few sources on the battle tells that it was his overconfidence that nearly cost him the battle just sending the battle while the new book of tang mentions a completely contradictory statement that it was fault of his Cavalry commander for not attacking when the infantry clashed.



Whatever the case Yuan army fled but the tang were convinced of their victory and broke formation to early the rebels regrouped and countered attack taking the field but at the cost of many by winter a stalemate had occurred , however by that same winter the campaign on the north was drawing ever closer to shorten the conflict any commander who surrendered would get to keep a strong position in the tang government and so many did just that and by spring 858 two tang armies marched south one against Yuan led by sun fai and Tun Bilge Kul whose chinese tittle was Zhongzhen the fourth cousin of the current Yabgu and the commander that saved the flank of Feng’s army in their battle from the Uyghurs In his march south the Karluk royal managed to trick the rebels by sending a force that lured them and he defeated them.



While Sun Fai faced Yuan and also defeating him both rebel forces retreated to Luling however here Sun fai was pushed by some of his commanders to not wait and destroy the rebel force the armies by late may the armies met some 10 kilometers north of Luling and were utterly destroyed , by June the court told the young emperor that it would be wiser to negotiate as this occurred Feng and Zhongzhen left as news reached that a possible Dabuyid attack the emperor gave Feng the tittle and responsbitlies Grand protectorate of Anxi not only that but he was also awarded the mostly ceremonial tittle of hou ( marquis) of the area ,by the time he returned peace was assured as Yuan kept control of part of the south from Guizhou he quickly went to the south to deal with the kingdom of Nanzhao the son of Meng Xungequan died in 853 his son the 34 year old Meng Shilong took power when the rebellion broke he did not attack the southern rebels.



But when Yuan forces were to the north he began to send small raids after he sent a 8000 strong army to invade that forced that made some tribes submit to him and some tang commanders even joined them some of the tribes moved to the capital to ask for men however the tang commanders due to malice , not having enough men and recourses to control them and sheer incompetence led to a 7000 strong force killing members and leaders of the tribes near Songping, the accident would be called by the old and new book of tang as : here is the blood that sowed the seed of disaster.

This resulted in the defection of prominent local leaders to Nanzhao and with their help they sacked many towns in the heartland of the protectorate at this time Lou Honfgu was sent with an 5000 infantry and 3000 elite cavalry as the tang and Yuan were steal in negotiations the Nanzhao won pyrrhic victory this gave time for Songping to prepare in just two weeks later their defense and the siege began.

 

[Whiteshore]

So, basically, this rebellion is TTL's An-Shi Rebellion equivalent?

 

[Silver01]

So, basically, this rebellion is TTL's An-Shi Rebellion equivalent?

In scope it's closer since the rebels here never crossed tong pass but in terms of placement this is the second rebelión as the qi rebellion in this timeline was more massive and came very close to winning
So I guess by that standar this rebelión is closer to hung Chao

 

[Silver01]

ok it took some time but i re wrote some things mostly corrected minor misspellings but from page 10 i made some changes to make more sense as i continued to learn a lot the 7th century period in the period of these 2 years PS also thank you for 2 years of reading my timeline

 

[Alarik Von Erstien]

Does anyone have a world map to look at?

 

[Silver01]

Does anyone have a world map to look at?

of this timeline? i have not made one i wish i could tho

 

[Silver01]

This was not the first time the kingdom of Nanzhao and tang supported the southern rebels during the Qi rebellion after it was clear that the ones that claimed the mandate of heaven were about to collapse that King Meng Xungequan began to ask for what the tang commander promised and he also helped more the rebellions in Annan , this was not the first time In 687, the new governor of Annan, Liu Yanyou doubled the taxes. The indigenous peasants under chief Lý Tự Tiên resisted, this rebellion lasted a year before it was put down.

There was also a revolt in 694,the biggest revolt was in 722 were Mai Thúc Loan rebelled in proclaiming himself the Black Emperor, allying himself with other kingdoms and had by some sources some 400 000 followers, the tang with the tribes who remained loyal with 100 000 strong force destroyed the rebellion in a year , there were minor revolts in 759 , 782 due to high taxes , revolts only got worse at after the ascension of Xianzong , 3 revolts occurred from 808 to 827 were two protectors general were killed the kingdom of Nanzhao indirectly supported these as this would aid their expansion as during this time the kingdom destroyed the Pyu city states and attacked the tibetan empire , so during the rebellion of Niu Sian the king not only sent forces against the chinese rebels but also supported the crushing of Annan rebels but at the same time they raided the towns .

By the ending of the Qi rebellion another the Nung people with support of champa pirates took the southern portions they sought aid from Meng but he played both sides when the tang paid him he left raiding Annan again as he retreated knowing the Tang would not retaliate , the nazhao raids continued , there were some other minor rebellions in Annan, the king from 848 he prepare a massive army , by 851 the protector general Zhao Xingli he had proclaimed his loyalty to the rebels at least in name to not deal with another front as he had to deal with rebellions , the news of the ammasing of an army by Nazhao made him paranoid and in 852 he in his paranoia that the tribes join the Nazhao integoragated the chief of the Đỗ tribe to rebel, killing Zhao thus the chinese then sent Lou Honfgu.

Lou Honfgu after his defeat returned north as the siege of Songping continued with that victory and with the rebellion continuing the kingdom of Nanzhao and other locals reunited a 40 000 strong army , the siege of Songping began the city had strong defenses the Tang garrisons during this time was upgraded with heavy-armored cavalry and infantry , the siege began in June in the heat of summer the defenders resisted , the breaches were met with cavalry charges killing many of those who dared to attack , the commander Gu Wei led a sally which surprised many but more importantly he captured some Nanzhao and local commanders which he tortured for information, with that he assault in the 6th of July began with assault the defenders waited and convinced them that a plague had broken out when the forces came thinking of an easy victory were met by a hail of bolts and arrows killing 2000 men and 300 horses.

As they retreated he sent his cavalry to attack they killed another 2000 men the siege dragged on for months in November the nanzhao managed to breach the city but due to an ambush the commander was killed the force only survived by starting a fire that covered their retreat , during this time Gu Wei tried desperately to sent word to the rebels and even the tang to support him but to no avail , by 854 most of the defenders had died and many began to flee finally in February there was a massive breach many took boats to flee as some others made a last stand killing some 4000 in the inner city .

finally in february 854 Songping fell then they laid siege to Junzhou but the tang navy managed to win a victory against a Nanzhao fleet of 5000 men which they destroyed nearly ¼ of their navy, Lou Honfgu was sent with a 8000 strong army however he managed to ambush the nanzhao army and lift the siege , how ever he had ¼ of his force became casualties limiting the reconquest of Annan limiting to capture towns and amassing a larger force this lasted for 2 years with many minor victories for both sides as Lou Honfgu avoided any major confrontation , finally after the peace talks began Yuan sent more forces to An Bang bay and by 858 Lou Honfgu had an army of 15 000 and a fleet of 250 ships their enemy again went for a third siege of Junzhou and here failed destroying a large part of their force, by this time the king of nanzhao had went to attack Qiongzhou to distract them but this took many casualties and was forced to retreat

with this Lou Honfgu went and laid siege to Songping and took it in two months and began its reconstruction he then retaliated against the tribes many of them summited to him with this he implored Yuan for a counterattack which the now new Jeidushi agreed to sending concentrating forces on Jiannan with 30 000 men he invaded south defeating the king at Bozhou expelling them not content he against orders he entered the kingdom sacking the northeastern towns and cities avoiding strongholds just burning and sacking avoiding the armies of the kingdom only attacking small forces , but knowing that he did not have more forces to conquer or destroy the kingdom he retreated how ever for disobeying orders and seeking personal glory the new book of tang tells us that Yuan invited him for a feast only to have him killed.

After the defeats peace returned but both kingdoms were left weakened the king was soon killed and a civil war followed furthering weakening his realm the tang were no better not only Yuan but many other kept their military post Yizong realm was left a ruin having not fully recovered from the previous rebellion central authority had now fully collapsed even though he tried his best and did not know it his dynasty was on borrowed time.

 

[Silver01]

well it took some time but finally finished the chinise concentrated chapters Heraclonas and co are comming back

 

[Silver01]

The young man apologized for not visiting the old man he entered with papyruses explaining why he had not come for some time, as he had been recalled back to the capital do to his father wishes and the situation of Constantinople, soon the young man put himself in position to write and the old man who could now bearly seat down spoke.

Heraclonas had peace for a time not since the rebellion of his brother was his empire under a massive war as he was just contending with Vikings and Berber raids due to this he concentrated much of his forces to guard in the Danube and the north the Khazars were in their peak raiding deep to the empire but the spoils of wars allowed their recent enemy to accept their peace, the Bulgarian prince was enjoying a good peace from the expansion into the decaying avar khaganate the bulgars conquered the old province of Dacia the Bulgars gained accesses to many recourses the most important been iron , gold silver and copper the Bulgars had slowly become more sedentary and the resources accelerated this as towns sprung to exploit the natural recourses and towns became centers of manufacturing

The duchy of Moravia was established in the late 8th century north of the avar remnant they summited to Charlemagne these revolted during the early rule of Louis the rebellion lasted some 6 years as the sorbs also they were forced to submit in 820 however after Louis against Denmark they expanded to the east as the bulgars were busy doe to the trouble of their prince conversion and after Mojmar II expanded his realm in to the east and then rebelled after some years Louis accepted their independence , his son tried to reconquer the area but his recent failures in Italy and against the other Frankish kingdom.

Louis took an army against the Moravians but was met with little success as Mojmar enemy defended by strong fortifications inflicting heavy losses to franks , the king However angered, plundered and burnt a great part of the province however as he was retreating part of his army got killed as the Moravians stormed the royal camp this resulted in more rebellions against the weakened king and the Moravians expanded to the west that by 860 they had become the second great Slavic power but it now shared a border with Bulgaria it was just a matter of time before their peace broke, but for now Mojmar consolidated his position news came from him to Heraclonas .

the ruler of Moravia had been Christian he was not the first one as Charlemagne made it so that his predecessor also converted the king had sent the word to the exarch , the Frankish king of Italy, the emperor to have him recognized as the legitimate ruler of Moravia not only that sent many missionaries but during from the late 850s to 861 the missionaries ran into problems the Latin script had been spread by the franks and the close proximity of Italy and Pannonia and while this was not a problem for the ones that came from Italy or Pannonia it was a problem for more Greek-speaking areas were spreading and teaching their language

It was here were a theologian by the name of Adeodatus descendant of Italians moved to Pannonia when Constantine reconquered it and began translating Greek and especially Latin to the Slavic language, this was not the first time this happened to the Bulgarians, Croatians, Serbs and others had local translations to their Slavic dialects and they had some help from the Romans, the idea by some could be traced to Constantine IV after he regained control over Slavs however he apparently had pondered it but was to busy and died before it.

However evidence for local Slavic translations of the late 7th century and early 8th do exist from the few manuscripts that survived but most of these died out as the southern Slavs became Hellenized over time, other sources also say that Constantine V also faced his dilemma but he argued against it fearing that creating a more alphabet would hinder his policies of integrating the Slavs to Latin or Greek-speaking communities, Charlemagne though also pushed for the Latin script to be adopted, but Adeodatus was the first to try to standardize the local Slavic dialects found in Moravia, due to convenience he used the Latin script as a base for his translation.

it was soon adopted by the Moravians to the determent of the eastern franks, Heraclonas had no issue with this the old emperor thought that if his actions and that of his empire would help the Christianization of more peoples that it would act to in his eyes be forgiven for the death of his brother at this time Heraclonas also made an alliance with Feng Xingmi against the Dabuyids, in 863 his second son was born which he named Constantine finally his young 4-year-old john was now not alone as the reformer emperor had little time for his wife his friends or his children, in fact, he rarely saw his guards who by now we're busy with their new responsibilities that only half of them still were close to the emperor most of the time, however, this was to change as the son of the prince of Bulgaria came to celebrate their peace they chose this time since it was the 100 years since the great peace of Constantine V and telerig khan.

 

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The son of Boris , Simeon was a young 7 year old he had come to the capital as hostage to make sure that that Boris kept his alliance as it was custom for byzantine diplomacy fancy displays were used to impress them the child but especially the diplomats were met with chariot races the games were not as grand the ones like the rule of Constans III, but Constantinople was still a rich city and so the emperor allowed a week of celebrations but the days of game were also an escape to the emperor even though he was barely 38 he had been changed however his determination had not been shattered .

As he went to games He saw his old guard all greeted each other with happiness and teasing as by some of them it had been some months since they last seen each other they at first did not enjoy the chef as the emperor mind was in his empire but after his friends calming him and some wine he calmed down as the Simeon and his entourage of the pro roman faction who had lived in Constantinople before but were still amazed by the size of the hippodrome and the spectacular races .

Soon the emperor left with his guard , Simeon and his entourage to dine with him as he passed the palace he amazed to see a golden tree with golden birds that made sounds this was built during the time of Constantine V and despite the crisis many works had survived as Bulgarians moved they were amazed by the imperial palace and delighted by the food Simeon met the recently five year old John as the kids met each even though they both had trouble using their forks, other the 15 men starting talking about past experiences the emperor missed this feeling after catching up with each other a slightly inebriated Basil was telling a story to the young Boris and John.

The story of how he and the others captured Theodisopolis he spoke: it was the it was the fourth year of the rule of Bardas and his brother had sent his army to crush John the usurper trying to kill those who rightfully revolted against that wretch so after the rebellion of John there was a man named Martiros who hated what the usurper had caused and the only thing he hated above them was the Persians so when news came that an army was going to fight the savior of Armenia named John he pointed at the emperors eldest who smiled ,caused him to finally revolt and he convinced many among them the young and energetic soldiers Basil , Leo and Dachi along with some other but his most important he convinced the old captain who in those days had the same age of the emperor.

He was considering leaving it all behind for how can he that fought under Heraclius II serve a usurper but he did not have the encouragement to revolt until Dachi told him of the plot and the commander accepted having more experience and prestige he with almost no bloodshed convinced many to join him and arrested the others by this time the usurper's brother was marching a 16 000 strong force against John as the commander sent word that the city had fallen to rebels the wretch's brothers sent 3000 men to deal with the 2000 rebels as he and the 200 loyalist would met him and he did ambushing them and destroying their force! we all fought with him and I proved to be the bravest among them said Basil as he looked at the other men, as Theoktistos smiled, Martiros sighed, and the as others laughed and sarcastically commented among them Dachi who said : Behold the bravest! and we would follow him any were ...... but only out of morbid curiosity

As Basil frowned and Theoktistos added that if only Basil was the only one that acted like that , but then he said : we did not know at the time that our actions helped John achieve his victory but it lead us to a good place our control of the city did not last long we had to leave it and by other circumstances due to the actions of the lord and his saints that you see this group formed and that Heraclonas is our emperor the other men who were silent cheered for their leaders words the children were curious about what happened next Basil just looked at the emperor and he said that it would be a story for another time soon the children were taken away and the men continued to talk for a while.

Until Dachi who had a little to much wine grabbed Basil by the collar and ask him to wrestle as the rest of the men reunited to see as they square up Basil had and was still a massive man but Dachi knew his opponent they clashed as they grabbed his arms as Basil tried to throw him and Dachi tried to place his leg behind his opponents but soon they both retreated and attack again as they taunted each other with the cheering of their comrades after some minutes Basil finally managed to thrown him to his back leaving Dachi with hopes of rematch but the Anatolian giant quickly rejected that idea to the annoyance of the Iberian, Theoktistos congratulated them for a good display and the emperor then said that he would like the old captain of his guard to wrestle the Anatolian which he at first declined but after some teasing he accepted it , the general squared up and despite his age he put as much resistance as Dachi but it was clear that it was matter of time before the Cappadocian would win just as he pushed the Greek general tipped him out of balance and quickly throwing him he helped get and said: there is nothing more admirable than your bravery but don't let it be your downfall.
there falls the mighty bear of Cappadocia said Dachi

 

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The second day began the men reunited again and went to the hippodrome as food was spread to the people the emperor addressed them and soon the race began the emperor told Martiros that if there was something good to come from the crisis was the peace at the hippodrome , while they had slowly declined the crisis eroded the last of their political power despite that usurper had tried to give more political power to the factions as base since many in the church and especially in the army did not support him, these powers did not last long as the usurper himself could not even afford the bribes to them especially after the Coptic and pro Heraclian rebellions in Syria and Palestine.

After the races and the circus whom acrobats amazed the children and adults alike like last time the 15 men, the children and the Bulgarian entourage again dined in the palace the children asked for another story so the Cappadocian , he pointed to Nicetas who had talked from the hippodrome to the palace trying to convince the emperor to get rid of the Hexagram silver coin it had declined during the crisis as inflation was rampant and while Nicetas had done massive task using his talents and what he learned to recover the gold solidus as it had been debased to 3.8 as a new lighter coin the man from Heraclius city had managed to return the solidus to its 4.5 grams.

But also kept the debased coin as new lighter coin but made from 4 grams how ever the percentage was not yet back as it was as in these years Nicetas had increased it from its 58% to 66% purity and for that he gained the tittle of butcher of the coin for his tortures upon the corrupted minters and the rich, in one instance (even though exaggerated) he ordered armed guards to arrest even though it soon became a brawl were one person was killed, even though some said it was 10 , it was due to this that most wanted to work in Ravenna , Rome, Syracuse, Alexandria or any were really rather than Constantinople or Thessalonica.

The Assyrian was convinced that the Hexagram was a lost cause and issued for a new silver coin, he explained to the emperor that the hexagram had increased in value for 6 grams to nearly 8 grams and there were used n 1/2 , 1/4 but after the crisis it had been debased to a mere 1.7 grams of silver , the emperor disagreed Nicetas and the other officials had managed the solidus and folles why not the Hexagram? the children asked how the Assyrian joined the army the emperor said to tell the story to the children.

the finance minister groaned : As you Know iam from... Heraclia.. said the Assyrian with expression that tried to hid his anger , my father was in the services of the Exarch of Mesopotamia living well for the city that was spared from the destruction of war, but in a short time they came again in the first year of rule of the usurper as the Persians pushed deeper to roman territory at the age of 13 by the wishes of my father I was sent to Palaestina Secunda as my father was friend with the governor he was his friends and fellow veteran of the previous war with Persia Sophronius after the ousting of Tiberius he was the first to rebel against the rule of Bardas among his men one named Paul who had become a dekanos a new arrival also came the youngest son of his friend fellow veteran and an official of Egypt ,Menas he at least saved his son he said trying to avoid looking at the Egyptian in their group.

We discussed many things from ....The classics especially the Iliad but he talked more about Euclid , Metrodoros and music said the Egyptian said pointing to the Assyrian which looked at him with he continued

So we stayed until after the victory of John were I was of age to finally join the fight and just in time for a battle for they marched toward our capital Scythopolis with some 35 000 warriors compared to our 9500.

???: 35 000? I have heard by some it was 50 000 or even 80 000
the old man looked at the young one who was writing and he answered: and exaggeration to say the least he continued

We gathered together and met near the the town of Ginae , it was of the fiercest and bloodiest battle in the holy land since the time of Heraclius , as they charged some of us swore so that no one might set his hope on flight , the head of a cavalry detachment charged nearly breaking our line and force some of us to flee as they set out killing whom they could reach, but they pushed to far and by the blessing of the blessed Theotokos as it was her nativity hey were surrounded and they were all put to death as the remnants of their armies took to flight, retreating to Caesarea , Antioch, Beroea ( Aleppo) , Syria and beyond but their forces were attacked by our Syrian allies

Bardas commanders from their base in Antioch a new attack that never came for a dreadful earthquake that extended from Damascus to Antioch lasted hours causing walls to fall down and many died under debris in Antioch 24 000 died among them a great portion of the forces, the earthquake also caused the citizens of Damascus to revolt and we joined with the governor of Foiníki Livanisía (Phoenice Libanensis) had tried to take the city before to no avail , but the tremors were also a dreadful many loyal citizens died in the Holy land and the earthquake extended its self to the great city of the east (Heraclia) and 40 000 died which allowed the fire worshipers to push north, then the governor declared himself emperor and so did the governor of Syria and two more did , only those in Italy and Cyprus along with John did not take an imperial tittle.

the children looked again fascinated by now the conversation had left the dinning halls and moved the sun had settled and the Assyrian to the dismay of the children stopped his story.

 

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The third day of the celebrations began, Tiberius who had gained the tittle the Loyal in the previous war now now wearing his toga he was busy with the supervision the guilds, after talking with the fire fighters and he was now was talking with taxiōtai as Constantine and Theophilos were with him they soon joined the emperor in the Hippodrome after his announcements the races soon began but the emperor was not talking about the sports rather with Tiberius , Nicetas efforts along with the others caused the emperor main focus of the currency and now he sought to reform his army the discussion lasted till diner after another set of talks with the Bulgarian ambassadors he was again worried and decided to excuse himself for a while to speak of urgent matters to distract the children he told Romanus with a story as they eagerly waited another one.

He told the children not get to exited as he told his story that he like his father and grandfather enlisted in the army in a cavalry regiment the Dacian said : we responded to Bulgarian raids ... driving them off it was there in my second year of services that I met another enlisted man, Demetrius our stay in Dacia did not last long as the usurper did not care for minor Bulgarian raids nor did he defend the Slavs beyond the Danube so we were moved to fight in Egypt ... the writings of those who fought under Constans II were not exaggerations the sand and the heat made it so that one could never put on a mask or keep his helmet for long heat was our real enemy not the Monophysites .

Until we encountered the forces of Apacyrus near Memphis no Egyptian fought like him and we were lucky to avoid capture , even when we ambushed him against in cleopatris he did not fear our horses nor our lances , but our stay in Egypt did not last long after that As John moved into Anatolia as so we were sent there, there we deserted along with another 7 men we went to Phasis as rumor said that in or to the cities of the north one could stay and bribe some one to the black sea and there we saw a group of men there they discovered they were deserters and then met after some time we made friends with Basil and Dachi soon their leader Theoktistos gave us the privilege of joining him and our emperor with the other men as we found the sword of his forefathers.

the young children then asked who was the better horseman and Demetrius was the first to speak saying that while Romanus could handle a lance better than him he could win any race against him , to which Romanus scoffed and the children asked for a race while the other men began to debate and tease on who would not only win on race but had more control of the horse , the emperor had arrived with Tiberius and Theoktistos just to hear the end of story as he chuckled and said : If one were to see them in battle they might think they are centaurs for only the khazars and huns ( avars) can be called better horsemen

Theoktistos remarked to the children that was achievement as they all learned to ride the horse and the emperor could rival the other two men which Heraclonas quickly denied and said if any one got better with the horse it was Constantine and surprisingly Basil , the children now asked who was truly the best with the horse and asked questions to Demetrius how was serving in Egypt and he said similar things to Romanus how as they climbed up the ranks and were assigned to heavy cavalry till the meeting of Apacyrus he feared he would die of heat stroke due to his armor , soon the conversation switched how to the captain of their guard joined them and they asked him how he met the emperor he said that after they took the city the men divided some went with him to the north as others went to the east to join John armies but they left quickly as they knew that the usurpers army was to come quickly and then by 848 he arrived in Lazica as the king there was sympathetic to John and accepted deserters wanting as most of them wanted to march to were John was he said:

I was in there were I found Alexander he hid himself quite well and I did not recognize him at first I doubted the old man was past his glory days

the other men were quick to tell him that he most know about that as he ignored them and kept talking , and so for the next days i followed him until I asked him one day who he was he denied of course as I realized he was going for a hidden dagger , I quickly told him that I was not in league with the usurper and told him that I served under him and Heraclius and he indeed recognized me asked why was I here for I told him what had happened since the Bardas had took power , He praised me for my actions and allow me to see were he was staying and found Heraclius son , I was excited at the prospect of him been alive would entail ... but Alexander told me to be patient and that he would soon be ready , I understood in time I allowed my men to see their future emperor and soon we left that place to Anatolia and there I chose some of them to dig his father gold and his sword this with the events in John camp made it so that the emperor chose the men you see here to be his personal guard, while the rest of those men many of them died for their empire but those who still live among them Manuel (of Odessos) .

 

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As the fourth day of celebrations began the emperor then again talked to Tiberius and Theoktistos during the games the emperor was particular interested in their opinion when the men gathered with the children they also waited for another story and this timed asked the Albanian,Vachagan did not answer but Tiberius did : We were both hostages I was the son of then exarch of Rome and the third born of the king of Albania I was sent as hostage with my brother the regent Michael was not popular and so I was sent to Constantinople in 834 at the age of 10 and the Albanian came 2 years after , despite that we were trained as we were to assume the roles of our fathers so we were thought all matter of administration and warfare but Vachagan read more about the latter.

The prince responded: After the Persians joined the war I was expecting that I was to be released to rule and I knew that war would spill over the lands I was to rule so I studied the Strategikon of Maurice and its derivatives like the questions of war of Constantine IV and Tactics of Justinian II along with other manuals like the composition on Warfare by Constantine V and I got to try these when in 842 we were sent against the Bulgarians, there we met the decedents of Latin settlers named Constantine and a Macedonian named Theophilos, we won some victories and stayed there for a two years until I convinced him to allow us to go to the east how ever we were still in Anatolia when John had won his great victory there was debate for Tiberius wanted to go Italy to his parents I wanted to east.

I convinced a group of 300 men to join me and we marched toward John we helped him with the ambush against the usurper brother in the Arsanias river , I then with the other men went to my kingdom who by then the Persians had installed the traitor Stephanos and they had pushed to Cyrus river there we defeated them in Partwa and then in the Tigranakert how ever the fire worshipers had bribed with gold or promises those who disliked my father , the romans or those who wanted the throne and so I had to flee due two attempts on my life , after that we went left to Iberia and soon the men divided some went to John as we went to Lazica so we could flee from there we would take the route of the Danube but as you know we found not our escape but our emperor .

"We did for Vachagan is the among the greatest commander and we his view on warfare are unparalleled some of troops called him Anikitos or for us in the west Invictus we even returned to Albania , but we could not save it from Persian rule " said Constantine.

seeing the mood of the conversation the emperor ordered the children to leave , the emperor wanted to apologize to the prince but he quickly denied him : Your duty was to protect your subjects with all your heart and might so you did, mine was to be loyal to you and so I have.

Theophilos said : "the greed of the regent have caused the near collapse of the empire if we had tried to save Albania the khazars , persians and their allies would have tormented it us with revolt and would kill one of your best "

I think you mean his best said the prince to change the mood as he quickly started a lighthearted discussion of who was the best among them it lasted only a while as they moved to see the race between Demetrius and Romanos along with the children , to which after some laps Romanus barely won soon after that the men had a game of Tzykanisterion and the men went to rest , the games passed with each nigh the children were told more stories about the emperors guard the victories against the Persians and more , soon the last day of the games came at the day of the anniversary of the founding of Constantinople with the masses happy and he could continue what he was discussing with the the two men.

the efforts of him and Nicetas made it so that the emperor had the revenue to enact his more important reforms he had discussed Tiberius and Theoktistos he was seeing the reform of Italy , the province was under the exarch of Rome and its governors were called the dux (dukes) , the division had changed little from the time of Constans II reconquest along with his and Constantine IV reorganization , Italy was divided between 13 duchies and the domains of the exarch , after time the only change was that the seat of the exarch moved from Ravenna to Rome, but now the north of the Po was under the domain of a Frankish vassal that took three duchies and the Berbers now he had discussed with Tiberius for the admirative reforms and his old captain of the guard for the military advice , it was so that he would divide the duchy of Apulia and Calabria to the themes of Apulia and Calabria so that a situation like that of Sicily would not allow the Berbers to conquer it, as it would make defense easier as well due to the raids that were becoming ever more common the emperor also established the theme of Sicily and Cyrnos (corsica) .

 

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Italy during the rule from Justinian II