Sorry for the delay, but I was finishing cutting my dog's hair.
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Anno Domini 828, August-19-27
Pov of caliph Al-Mamún
Finally we had broken the Romans in their frontier fortifications of Anatolia. We had quite literally opened the gates and what should have followed was a massive campaign of plunder across Anatolia once those gates were thrown wide in order to draw the attention of that new Roman emperor. But circumstances had changed in an alarming way in a very short time.
I was already holding conversations with the wālī of Anṭākiyah who was requesting reinforcements insistently since he feared being next after seeing what had happened to the wālī of Homs. For that reason he had been sending me correspondence frequently urging me to cut short my campaign in Anatolia and launch a rapid march into the Levant. The pressure I was under was unbearable. The army of the Roman emperor was besieging Tarsos and other cities and more than six cities had been lost in a very short span of time. To worsen the situation the other wālī of the region did not know how to act against the Roman force that had struck the Levant since they did not know its numbers. Some scouts spoke of only a few thousand others of tens of thousands so no one wanted to act without support even though I had pointed out that the wālī could gather their forces and attack the problem jointly.
Anṭākiyah fell within days and no one had an answer. From one moment to the next one of our possessions which secured our control against the Romans had fallen and no one could give me an explanation. I could not withdraw without finishing the sieges since we had invested too much time and too many men to leave those fortresses outside our control.
So I ordered the wālī of Aleppo and Damascus to prepare to support me once I marched toward Antioch.
That was going to be absolutely necessary for one simple reason. The wālī of Aleppo had already informed me that the Romans were plundering everything within their reach with the aim of preventing us from obtaining supplies in the area. Considering that we had plundered many Roman villages and had also supplied ourselves from local cities this showed that at the very least the Roman commander knew what he was doing when it came to stopping us.
Because of this I began sending orders to gather supplies in Aleppo from several areas taking advantage of the harvest so as to have all the provisions needed and be able to besiege the city calmly. I did not decide to abandon or rush the sieges. Once all the Roman frontier fortresses had been taken secured with strong garrisons and repairs to the walls had begun that was when I started the march south to end this quickly.
"It is truly sad to see these landscapes my Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh. These lands were once full of life and now they are dull. There is no life anywhere. The Romans have erased the beauty of this region replacing it with vast stains of ash everywhere" said one of my commanders who was observing the terrain as we rode south.
"It was to be expected. The Roman commander appears to be competent and wants to hold what he has taken since his tactics allowed him to seize this place quickly. We must recover what we have lost with speed in order to begin the attacks in Cilicia drive the Roman army from the region and then plunder Anatolia so that we may negotiate a peace with the Roman emperor who surely intends to use this war to secure his power on the throne" I said while observing the lifeless land.
We continued the journey beginning to use the supplies we had accumulated while dispatching scouts in all directions to see whether we could find any source of water and avoid exhausting what we carried too quickly.
"Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh I fear we have found nothing. We discovered several wells that the Romans had sealed but when we tried to open them we found them filled with bloated bodies. The water is contaminated. I fear we will have to continue our search" said one of the scouts.
I nodded and we continued the journey. I drew a deep breath. Although my body protested against these long rides on horseback I had to keep leading my men even as fatigue began to weigh heavily.
The journey continued amid these gloomy and sorrowful sights. Villages reduced to ashes the occasional fortress still standing and people struggling to survive.
We left as much food as we could for the poor people who had survived the Roman pestilence that had ravaged these lands. But this terrible sight of men and women reduced to skin and bone was in fact the most positive of all. The Romans had not been able to take this place and for that reason they had survived. However they had also been unable to leave.
The bodies of their acquaintances remained in the well and they did not know how to remove them. Aside from a few items that would remain inside the fortress there was nothing left within their reach.
When we rested we heard only the winds passing with force. The whistling of the night winds was the only sound that could be heard throughout the region.
With the supplies we carried we continued the march until we finally began to reach the Orontes River and its flow. There we were able to resupply ourselves with abundant water since that same current supplied the city we would soon besiege and without any doubt it would not be contaminated for to do so would have meant ruining their own water reserves.
It was sad to observe how lands so rich and fertile lay barren devoid of all life. We found only rubble. Each time we descended along the Orontes we encountered villages completely empty with no trace of life only remnants of what had once existed along the road.
Keeping the pace of the march the troops of the wālī of Aleppo joined us barely managing to combine his forces with mine so that we marched with nearly ninety thousand men. We clearly surpassed our estimates of the Roman forces and possessed a strength that should firmly crush the Romans at Anṭākiyah.
Having witnessed the gloomy road finding only villages reduced to ashes we arrived at Pagrās a fortress tasked with safeguarding trade well positioned on a hill in the region.
Or rather what remained of it. The fortress was no longer standing only rubble. It appeared that it had been besieged and when they failed to secure control of the area they destroyed the fortress so that it could not be used against them.
I shook my head as I observed the chaos that had been unleashed across the region in such a short time.
"Where is the wālī of Damascus? He should already be here helping us" I said while looking at the wālī of Aleppo as we continued riding south.
"I do not know my Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh. He should already be here. We had coordinated his journey to Aleppo to join our forces or failing that to besiege the Roman coastal cities while we continued with our plans" replied the wālī of Aleppo.
"I do not like this at all. Send messengers to Damascus immediately. I want to know what is happening. He should already be here or at the very least have informed us of the reason for his delay" I said while issuing orders to several riders who departed swiftly toward Damascus.
We continued the journey and finally began to notice that our supplies were growing lighter so upon reaching our destination caravans loaded with provisions from Aleppo would have to begin arriving.
At last after days of marching the walls of Anṭākiyah stood before us.
"They are different" I said as I observed them. There were outer perimeter walls around the city and I noticed that the river had been diverted flowing around the walls and forming a natural barrier.
"The infidels must have fortified the city while we were recruiting my Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh" replied the wālī of Aleppo.
"And why was I not informed of this? Why do I have to learn of it now?" I asked angrily staring at him.
He knelt immediately. "My Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh I did not wish to sacrifice men. The Romans were capturing or killing every scout I sent and I lost several because of it" the wālī began to stammer.
"Enough. Enough. Stop making excuses. You could have harassed the Roman forces. Now we have far more work to take the city" I said as I felt a growing pressure in my head.
At dusk we began to set up the siege camps so that the Roman forces could observe the size of our army and with luck intimidate their commander. We could assault the walls and their garrison should not be large enough to withstand us since all Roman forces were in Cilicia.
"Allah will grant us a swift victory" I told myself while eagerly awaiting my cartographers to deliver a map of the city so I could assess the changes made to the walls and determine how many camps would be required to watch all the gates.
"It would be prudent my Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh to send riders to search for supplies. I doubt the Romans have burned their own lands. Although the harvest season has ended we may find something in the local villages with granaries still full" said one of my commanders lowering his head.
"Tomorrow at first light we will send forces for that. For now we must finish the camp preparations and attempt to negotiate the city's surrender tomorrow" I replied calmly as I began reviewing some books I had brought with me to pass the waiting time.
As I read several siege treatises recommended by famous generals I began to hear shouting.
It struck me as completely strange and when I stepped outside I noticed smoke rising from one of the camps accompanied by the sound of metal clashing.
"My Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh! The Romans are attacking one of our camps from the outside!" shouted one of my guards as he arrived to inform me of what was happening.
"Wake everyone. Send reinforcements" I said rising and putting on my armor as quickly as possible.
The sound of fighting only grew and as we prepared to move toward the besieged camp we saw a massive group of riders beginning to flee south.
"Quick send riders pursue them!" I shouted to my guards who swiftly fetched their horses and galloped off following the direction in which the Romans had escaped.
Meanwhile a large portion of the army gathered at the attacked camp where we found thousands of dead scattered everywhere many without armor as they had been sleeping and preparing for the next day.
"That Roman commander will not make this easy for us" I said watching as the camp burned and corpses covered the ground.
As I took in the chaos I saw soldiers arriving and calling for help.
"They are attacking another camp! The defenders of the city made a sortie and are burning a camp on the other side of the city!" shouted one of the soldiers.
"Damn it what in the name of Allah is wrong with these Romans?" I said clenching my teeth.
Without wasting time we began to run toward the attacked location circling the city which was enormous and took us a long while. When we finally arrived we saw the defenders slipping back inside the walls.
Upon arrival we found everything burned. All the supplies had been destroyed and the few men left there were dead since most had run to help against the Roman riders.
"Reinforce the guard. I want sentries and fires everywhere. I want no more surprises. Everyone is to be armed at all times" I said as I returned to my tent.
I slept uneasily. I had a severe headache from all this and felt intense pressure behind my eyes as if they were about to burst.
At first light I was preparing everything to present terms of surrender to the garrison intending to avoid the siege.
That was when a messenger entered and whispered something to the wālī of Aleppo. His face turned pale utterly terrified by what he heard.
"What happened?" I said staring at him.
"My Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh the the the granaries of Aleppo burned. Someone set them on fire" said the wālī of Aleppo unable to articulate his words properly.
"What! Do you realize that we barely have supplies to remain here? Send messengers to Baghdad tell them to prepare shipments by Allah" I said pressing my hands to my temples feeling my head about to explode.
"My Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh a messenger from the wālī of Damascus reports that he will not be able to join our forces. A Roman force is attacking his sector. Bayrut has fallen and the Romans are devastating the entire area" said the messenger.
"Allah has abandoned us" I said unable to bear the weight of so many accumulated bad tidings.
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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.
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