-----------------------------
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 828, July-7-14
''Come on, move those arms. Soon you will have to put them to the test, and you will regret not having practiced'' I said as I walked through the training ground inside Antioch. In truth it was an enormous abandoned hippodrome within the city walls that I had turned into a field of instruction.
''No. No. No. Never do that. If you use a sword you must never strike using only the wrist. You waste time and energy. Every blow must be born from the body or from the entire arm'' I said as I ran toward one of the themata soldiers. It was obvious he had no idea how to use the wooden sword he was holding.
''Thrust and behind the shield. Cut and behind the shield. Attack and hide. Never overextend yourself'' I instructed him while repeating the movements in front of him. At first he hesitated, but he quickly began to imitate me.
''That's it. Much better'' I said with a smile, giving him a light tap on the shoulder before turning toward the shooting ranges where archers and crossbowmen were training.
Thanks to Arab and Persian influence in the region there were far more people capable of using a bow than in the Byzantine tradition. The Strategikon stated that every peasant should know how to shoot a bow, but that idea had always terrified the emperors. An armed peasantry was also a peasantry capable of proclaiming emperors.
Even so, here there were many archers, or at least people who knew how to use a bow, even if not a war bow. I no longer had English longbows of one and a half meters with me, but I did have a large number of Sarakenoi bows. They were better for new recruits. They were not the massive two-meter bows that required training from childhood and deformed the body. These were more forgiving, though they required mastering the thumb technique of the composite bow.
Beyond that, we had a large number of crossbows. They were still the simplest way to train someone. If a man did not know how to use a bow, he would not learn in one or two months, the time we had left before the Abbasid army arrived.
I kept moving, observing the place. The hippodrome was filled with warriors. I had expanded the themata even further because there was no other option. I went city by city under my control, expanding the system and distributing more land, even knowing that I would not be able to defend it all in the event of a serious attack.
Even so, I managed to recruit another ten thousand men. They were novices, without real experience of war, but at least there was enough captured equipment. That material was already being standardized under my control while I set the local industry to work in my favor.
As in Crete, iron was not abundant here. There were some minor deposits in the hills and mountain systems of the region, but they were insufficient. We depended on iron from the Empire, and with the supply network broken, replenishing it would take time. So I was forced to turn to the ruins of Antioch.
Entire buildings were dismantled in search of metal. Rusted nails. Corroded hinges. Old horseshoes. Everything was recovered. Many useless houses that served no purpose were also demolished. In the end they were nothing more than stones bound together with Roman cement.
In many cases those same stones were reused to raise a second perimeter wall in vulnerable sectors of the city and on nearby farms that would soon have harvests. It was vital that the local economy continued to function even knowing that the siege was drawing ever closer.
Many women and children worked the fields alongside soldiers of the themata. I made sure that the land was rented to them and that they were put to work, and that they received a salary even if it was paid out of my own pocket as loans to the themata soldiers, using their future harvest as collateral and a salary higher than what a themata soldier normally earned. I could not apply the usual system of a single gold coin per year as symbolic pay. They had received their contracts only weeks ago. I could not demand that they finance themselves or equip themselves alone.
I had to treat them as personal forces. Maintain them with a salary like my own men, feed them, which meant I had to secure a large quantity of food resources from the plunder that was accumulating here. Prepare them physically for the battle that was about to fall upon us.
As I left the hippodrome I observed more abandoned houses being demolished inside the city, since space had to be made for all the equipment, food, and reserves that needed to be stored within the walls.
''Good… good. How is that going? Will you be able to build those granaries and water depots within the time I asked?'' I asked as I observed the group of architects. They were spread across the ground with measuring ropes, stakes, and tablets, giving orders to the workers while calculating distances.
''Strategos, your presence honors us. We were just discussing that. The city is well laid out. It is clear that it was our ancestors who planned this place. Once the rubble is removed we find no substantial differences in the terrain'' one of them replied, but I interrupted him before he could continue.
''Remember to leave me all the metal material. All of it. Down to the last piece. We need it in the forge to reuse it, create new construction elements, and reinforce doors and sewer bars'' I said firmly.
''Everything that is recovered will be sent to your forge, strategos. But as I was saying… once the rubble is cleared, the granaries can be raised without problem. The water reserves, I fear, will be more complicated. I cannot have them ready in such a short time. I would recommend other forms of storage. The city's current cisterns are quite large and can supply Antioch for several days'' the architect explained.
''But I paid you for that. And you already collected. And it was not cheap'' I replied, staring at him.
''Certainly… but I thought you might be interested in expanding my services for other works… eh… eh'' he said, laughing nervously.
''We will buy some time by mixing water with vinegar in some barrels. That will give us at most a month. Even so, build the new reservoir. Even if it is not finished, I do not think we will need it immediately. But there is another job that will take time and I need it as soon as possible'' I said without preamble.
''At your orders, my strategos. We will begin as soon as the rubble is cleared'' they replied in unison.
With that I headed to the forge district. As a large city, Antioch had a respectable group of blacksmiths, though they did not exceed a hundred. Most military equipment was produced in other Abbasid cities with better access to iron. Here they handled repairs, maintenance, or specific commissions for a few officers.
There was no time for luxuries. I limited myself to organizing them and assigning tasks according to the city's immediate needs. The first priority was to rebuild and reinforce the sewer bars.
Much of the available iron was not ideal for long lasting work, but it was the best we had. The old bars and local pieces were reused, reinforcing them with double protection at critical points, as I did not want anyone copying the technique.
I also appointed a veteran Varangian as prefect of the sewers. Under his command I established a small guard composed of local men. Their task would be to patrol constantly and ensure that nothing moved beneath the city without our knowledge.
I also ordered changes to the city gates, adding a portcullis to make them even harder to break or open, creating a different door opening system where a battering ram would not be as effective when striking a gate made of iron bars.
Having so many responsibilities was a constant burden. It was not only about raising a defensive system capable of withstanding the Abbasid forces, but about building one that would force them to bleed for every stretch they took. Every decision had to serve both purposes at the same time.
I had placed trusted officers as governors in the cities. Most were illiterate, but that did not matter. I chose them for loyalty and experience. They were men who knew how to command troops and could directly assist with training. What mattered now was that each city had a well trained garrison. Training saves blood. And depending on the size of the Abbasid army, it was very possible they would attempt to besiege all the Levantine fortifications at once. That forced me to divide my forces carefully.
On the coast I had six cities to defend. All had walls in good condition thanks to maintenance by their former rulers. In each I left two thousand seven hundred local men. The exception was Alexandretta. There, even being generous with the recruitment age, I could barely maintain five hundred men. To compensate, I transferred population from Antioch. Fifteen thousand people left the city and were resettled in Alexandretta, strengthening its defense and reducing food pressure in Antioch.
In each city I also placed a detachment of three hundred of my own men. They acted as captains and sergeants. Their order was clear: never surrender the walls under any circumstance. And if the city was irretrievably lost, use the ships to evacuate and reinforce another position. As long as the Abbasids had no fleet available while it was blockaded, the sea was ours. It had to be exploited.
In total I had thirty three thousand themata, drawn from a population of more than three hundred thousand people. It was a high percentage, but inevitable. Added to that were seven thousand five hundred professional soldiers. That was my core of trust, men I could throw into battle without fearing they would flee before carrying out orders.
Eighteen thousand took defensive positions in the cities, also participating in fortification work. I kept fifteen thousand mobile men. Of those, five thousand nine hundred were trained soldiers who remained in Antioch. With them I would begin the hardest work: preparing the battlefield.
Once orders were given to raise new perimeter walls and open an exterior ditch fed by the flow of the Orontes, I moved on to logistics. I ordered my trading company to abandon any pursuit of profit. From that moment on they were to buy only food and transport it to the Levantine ports. I also awaited the arrival of military equipment to begin standardizing the Syrian themata with my own material, though I knew this would take months after Theophilos' order was delivered.
While all that progressed, I moved to direct action. I gathered all the men who knew how to ride a horse. Their number had grown greatly thanks to the number of horses under my control. With three thousand cavalry we rode out, followed by some five thousand men made up of veterans and new thematic units.
The first objective was a small fortress near Patras. It was nothing more than a fort controlling internal trade. Its garrison could not exceed two hundred men. It was the perfect place to train troops in camp life and siege work. I left several of my men there with them and continued the march.
From that moment the systematic devastation began. We advanced upriver along the Orontes, burning farmland, razing villages, and capturing Sarakenoi slaves. The Christian population was sent to Rosos to increase its numbers and strengthen the city. In a few days we had destroyed all the fertile lands the caliph's army could use when advancing.
Then we extended the plunder. We noticed horsemen watching us from a distance, probably sent by the wali of Aleppo, but no matter how much they observed us reducing entire villages to ashes, they did not interfere in the slightest. They knew what had happened. Two provincial governors had fallen and Antioch was in my hands. They would not dare to act alone without the caliph's army.
For a full week we continued the systematic burning toward Telouch and Germanikeia, and we plundered the entire Pyramos valley without encountering resistance. Hundreds of villages were destroyed. Entire fields laid waste, wells poisoned, everything that could feed an enemy army was eliminated. They would have to depend on supply lines, and that left them open to counterattacks.
There was still work to be done.
Antioch was not going to be just a fortress. It was going to become a meat grinder for the Abbasids.
-----------------------------
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.
------------------------------