-----------------------------
If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------
Anno Domini, 831-October-12
Taking a spear from the blood-soaked ground, I secured it in my hands and charged with all my strength against one of the defenders of al-Fusṭāṭ, impaling him from side to side and piercing his light armor of some hardened cloth.
The defender brought his hands to his stomach as blood began to spill from him, and he tried to tear out the spear that had pierced him.
Bringing my hand to my belt, I drew my sword and, with a single cut, opened his throat. Although the head did not separate from the torso, I did slice through the arteries, making him fall as he bled out, filling his turban with blood while I listened to his screams drown in gurgles of blood.
Looking around me, besides my hird that was around me, I saw how the combat continued to unfold. The defenders of al-Fusṭāṭ had decided that it was time to carry out some kind of sortie, attacking through the breaches inside the city.
Thousands of warriors had come out with the intention of attacking our siege fortifications.
And, as expected, this had not gone very well. In the end, it seemed to be a maneuver to gain some time, since I had been informed that, at the same time, the forces of the Abbasids had gathered in the southeast and, using the mountain chain, had been hiding for some time.
And they had begun to attack our outer camps.
While blood dripped from my sword, I approached a group of Slavs that was still fighting against the sarakenoi and the Copts who were among their ranks.
One of the sarakenoi saw me approaching and quickly ran toward me with a spear in hand, trying to use the same trick I had used on his companion.
Only the spearpoint slid across my armor, where, using my gauntlet, I seized the spear shaft. No matter how much the sarakenoi struggled to free his weapon from my hands, he failed. When he gave up on recovering his spear, he drew a curved dagger from his belt.
He threw himself at me and, raising my arm, I blocked his leap. His torso crashed against my forearm, but my sword had sunk into his stomach. Hearing the groan of pain that this enemy fighter let out, I twisted the sword inside his stomach, listening to his groans of agony.
Finally, I pushed and threw him to the ground, where he fell covering his abdomen. An enormous hole was now there, through which his blood spilled out and what looked like his entrails began to show.
Taking the spear again, I used it to drive it into his neck with a single movement and left it stuck in the ground. The man brought his hands to his throat before slowly dying.
Continuing on my way, I saw that the Slavic forces had begun to push back the sarakenoi who were between the ditch and the walls.
The forces of the sarakenoi had begun to return to the city walls. Their attack had lasted almost an hour, and it seemed they had decided it was time to end it, since large sections where the defenders were concentrated were returning inside the city, to their entrenched positions.
The field ended up emptying quickly when one of the sides abandoned the battlefield, leaving only wounded and dead behind.
The Slavs began moving the wounded back to our camps. It had taken me a long time to train them to fight their enormous need to start looting the dead immediately, since saving the lives of the wounded was more important than searching for coins in pockets.
So our wounded were quickly transported to the multiple siege camps so the surgeons could do what they could to save their lives. Even losing crippled men was a blow, since they could serve in other tasks or be sent back to their homes with pay to prevent the collapse of their family core, which often depended on those people who could die in combat.
When the fighting ended, I began returning to my camp, since, apparently, the general sortie had ended.
My hird followed my pace while I listened to metal ringing with our steps.
Returning to the camp, I took off the helmet and face guard that were suffocating me. Even with all the time we have been here, cooking under the heat of the sun, and although autumn was arriving, the heat kept striking with a force that had me almost going mad.
Taking a jug of water from one of my soldiers, I threw it over my head.
''How terrible this heat is. I feel like I was roasting inside my own armor'' I said, looking at my hird, who were doing the same while removing part of their armor.
''I must say yes. This siege has been, by far, the hardest of all those we have carried out. The heat has been an enemy that has shown us no mercy at all'' said one of my hird.
''The siege has dragged on too long'' I said, placing my hands on my table and focusing on the maps of the city that we had made over the last months.
Al-Fusṭāṭ has proven to be one of my greatest challenges so far. The city remained defiant after months of total encirclement. It was surrounded in every possible direction.
There were five camps that divided the entirety of the siege forces, as well as a double ditch that protected the palisade keeping the defenders inside, preventing things like this from happening and keeping them from reaching our camps.
We had also built a second wall in our own rear, giving our siege camps extra protection. It was a monumental expense of wood, something scarce in the area, which was only possible to maintain because of my extensive logistical networks, which allowed me to keep bringing wood and food in great quantities to sustain our effort in this siege.
That is why we have been able to fortify the area so well and block access through the Sinai desert to the troops of the sarakenoi, forcing them to come by sea no matter what, where our navy has been hunting them and capturing many of them.
But the real problem was the city. Its population was even larger than our army. The city was very large, not larger than the Queen of Cities, like Constantinople, but it was close to that, and because of that, the population of Muslims and Copts inside was massive.
Besides being the political center of the area, this meant the whole place was filled with granaries, so starving the city out was proving more difficult, since with full granaries, they might have a long time before famine broke out inside.
Even with the river diverted and with every trick being used to wear down the defenders, the city continued to resist.
During the waiting time, the defenders had expelled the women, children, elderly and wounded from the fortress, leaving only the defenders inside the city.
It was the sign we were looking for, since it showed that the siege was beginning to be effective, but the problem was what to do with so many people. I could not simply let them leave the siege easily. Spies or soldiers could slip among those groups of people and ask the Abbasid forces for help.
Surely that was the reason why they carried out the sortie, since somehow they had made contact with the forces of the caliph.
But all those people who were expelled from the fortress were sent to the Nile Delta area, since, in the same way, I could not let them all die of hunger. What I most needed to prevent at the moment was losing population, and if the most populated city in Aegyptus ended up completely empty, it would be impossible to recover it.
So I simply had to send them to continue the agricultural work, since, even with the war being devastating in this area, it was absolutely necessary for food to keep flowing to feed the locals.
As well as my own forces, since it was becoming a serious hole in my finances to have to finance many of the costs with my own gold. The emperor covered part of it, but clearly not everything.
Especially with my need for wood and mortar to keep fortifying our positions. It was something that probably would not be paid for, no matter how much I insisted, but it was necessary to keep our fortifications secure.
Hearing the gallop of horses, I stared at the entrance of my camp and soon saw Sigurd returning covered in blood and with his armor badly dented.
''Basil, look what you missed'' said Sigurd, taking off his helmet. He did not take long to remove his gauntlets after leaving his blood-covered pole hammer to one side, then he put his hands into a fountain of water and wet his face. ''The sarakenoi we fought really know how to fight. They were very well armed''
Sigurd took off his steel cuirass and showed it to me.
''These dents are not made simply with axes or swords. Did they have maces?'' I asked, observing the dents in the armor.
''Yes. Besides, there were many of them. Too many, I would say. More troops were also coming behind them. We focused on freeing the troops of the tourmarches who was operating in that fortress and withdrew from the place, since it was only a matter of time before that area was overwhelmed by the troops of the sarakenoi, so we evacuated those forces'' said Sigurd while scratching his nose and looking for something to drink.
''Did anyone count how many troops there are? It would not surprise me if there were many. They have spent months trying to move troops across the sea, but it is not as if we can keep the entire sea under watch. It is too large an expanse for the fleet we currently have, so I assume they must be as far south as possible, moving troops to keep them from continuing to be captured. I assume they depend on local resources and on whatever they bring with them, so we have problems'' I said, looking at the map of the sea and the possible supply routes our enemies had.
''Too many to count quickly, although we only saw the vanguard, where those turk who are the slaves of the Abbasid caliph were. So we have a fairly competent force in front of us. The moment we forced them to withdraw, they quickly reorganized to fight again, so good battles are coming ahead'' said Sigurd after taking a great drink from a jar of water.
''Expected. We have quite a few troops in the area, although I would evacuate the southern camps. We have no way to protect them, since these will not simply be skirmishes. We will surely have the forces of the Abbasids making things difficult for us there, since it is flatter terrain and not very defensible. We only have the walls and the ditches'' I said, observing the map and trying to predict where the troops of the sarakenoi would move.
''The attack on that kastro was too strong. I think they will establish their camps there to try to break the siege'' said one of my tourmarches, looking at the map with me.
''Little water. That area had to be supplied with water. If three thousand men needed frequent shipments, that would make the entire sarakenoi army have to keep moving to search for water, so I doubt they will establish themselves in the area… I would say they will settle along the Nile. They have water and can protect their supplies'' I said, moving my finger across the map.
''Then perhaps they will leave a detachment there. Winter is approaching and the cool seasons are coming again, when not as much water is needed'' said another tourmarches, supporting his companion.
''They would be stupid not to use such an advantageous area of terrain, especially with the already built positions. But as a main camp, it is not ideal, and if they do it, they will realize it is useless… But we must call all troops that are not in active combat. We do not know how many they are, so we must empty the garrisons in the captured cities, leaving only the minimum needed for them to function'' I said, running my hand over my beard.
''Understood. I will send riders as soon as possible so they send their men'' said a tourmarches, but he turned before leaving. ''Do we try to involve the navy? There would be several thousand, if not tens of thousands, who could join our defense, although they would take some time to arrive''
''No. Have them intensify their naval movements and investigate farther south. Have them cut off their supplies. I doubt the lands of the Nile to the south can supply too much, so we will keep watch. Prepare yourselves and stay alert, because we will have a great battle on our hands soon'' I said, looking at my men, who nodded with conviction.
''Let us celebrate that'' said Sigurd, raising a jar of beer that I did not even know where he had gotten from.
-----------------------------
If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
-------------------------------