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Anno Domini 830, January-13-February-24
Nothing much of interest had happened during that night, only that I felt more hypocritical than ever, although that did not repeat itself in the following days. There was a lot of movement, as a messenger had been sent to where the new Varangian settlements were being built so that they could be informed of this and so that Sigurd's brother would no longer insist on his plans of creating a great dynasty among the Slavs
The winter continued to strike with great force as the days kept passing, fires were lit in an attempt to fight the intense cold, where animal furs were greatly appreciated to endure the temperatures, and there were no more people in our area of operations, since all had been evacuated to our settlements to keep the population safe in a place that could be controlled
I stayed reviewing the equipment, helping with the repair of captured military gear, since much of the Frankish equipment ended up damaged. Chainmail did its job well, but against a well delivered blow the rings would break and had to be repaired using the same iron from the broken rings. Even though I did not have all the tools at my disposal, I was doing everything possible to arm the Slavs as best as I could, because they might be very brave and skilled with the composite bow on horseback, but they would be of little use to me in taking fortifications or in decisive engagements if all they had was padded clothing or leather reinforced garments, which left us at a significant disadvantage against the Carolingian troops
They might not have the same level of quality as the Varangian troops that followed me, but they had far greater standardization on their side
So several days passed while we waited, waiting for the strong winds to stop and for the snowfall to lessen a bit, carrying out some basic training within the safety of the walls to keep my troops prepared, because as soon as this situation ended we would have to return to the offensive in case the Carolingians managed to gather a force capable of facing us in the field
So at the first sign, after weeks of waiting, when the snow stopped falling with such intensity and the winds eased, we began moving directly south
With all my forces we left the safety of the walls, leaving a small garrison to protect this important defensive point. We began descending directly into the Carolingian March of Pannonia, which was the last stronghold the Franks had left in what had been the Carpathians, and to secure our gains
"We are here… it seems the Frankish forces are confident" I said while observing the castle beside the river as I waited for my forces to organize to cross
"Why do you say that?", said Sigurd, who watched with interest while eating dried meat, observing the snow-covered landscape
"If I were in charge of the defense of the March of Pannonia, I would have burned the bridges… all the bridges are still standing, leaving easy access into the territories we must take… we only need to secure that stone fortress of the Franks and we will have a place from which to attack and return in case the Franks have gathered a large army" I replied, pointing with my finger
"Wouldn't it be better to fight them in the open? we have 30000 horsemen, we could easily crush them under our horses' hooves without much trouble… or surround them with arrows like the Saracens do, supposedly a mass of infantry like the Franks use would be easy prey for that tactic, right?" said Sigurd, recalling what I had told him
"Exactly… but we must also know when to fight… remember, the Strategikon clearly tells us that if we gain nothing clear from a battle, it is not worth fighting it… it is better to act defensively and let our opponent make the mistake… we do not have the equipment to throw ourselves headlong" I replied while giving the order for the Varangian cavalry units to advance and begin crossing the bridge
"I will keep that in mind with my men as we advance… same considerations with the inhabitants of the March of Pannonia? no killings, no rape, but we capture them to take them back to the settlements?" asked Sigurd while lightly spurring his horse forward
"Exactly… they are Christians and we cannot enslave them for religious reasons, but we can take them as prisoners and resettle them as serfs… and later grant them free status" I replied, following the Varangian as we rode
In the distance we noticed the Franks raising the alarm. The stone fortress was quite solid, but small in size, it could not have more than a garrison of 400 men, clearly overwhelmed
We quickly set up camp while I sent a group of Varangians and Slavs to raid the area to secure supplies and at the same time capture prisoners to populate the Carpathians, because the population did not matter, if we needed a shield we needed people, not cultural uniformity
We quickly began assembling the trebuchets, and also sent for the imperial diplomat who was in the rear, since I needed someone who spoke the language of the Franks to negotiate with them and accept a surrender, so as not to wear myself down with long sieges
By sunset the Varangians had assembled around 10 trebuchets and began firing at the walls, throughout the entire night the walls suffered relentless punishment without mercy
By morning the diplomat had arrived, he was trembling from the cold despite wearing heavy furs filled with perfumes, yet even so the man would not stop shivering and I constantly heard him complain about having to be here in this season
We sent him with a small escort, offering the Franks that if they laid down their armor and weapons they could return to their lands unharmed
"Hey… give me some" said Sigurd, looking at the bread I had placed inside an iron bowl and was pulling out using a thick iron glove to avoid burning myself
"Of course" I replied, taking out the steaming bread, quickly cutting it and placing the jar of honey in front of him
"Ah… this is life… there is nothing better than freshly baked crunchy bread with honey" said Sigurd while eating and slightly burning his mouth, yet fully enjoying what I had baked
"Yes, we got everything from that village we looted" I said as I took out a piece of red beef so fresh it almost still moved and placed it on an iron plate inside the oven, letting it roast while adding some salt
"Ah, and where did you get that?" asked Sigurd, looking around
"If you had woken up at the first ray of sunlight, you would have found that the Slavs captured nearly 200 cows and brought them here… we slaughtered about 5 and distributed them among everyone, if you hurry you might still get something good to eat and not the parts no one wants" I said while turning the meat
"I'm going" said Sigurd with bread in his mouth as he ran toward where the meat was being distributed
Finally, the diplomat appeared while I was placing the piece of meat into the bread
"And well?" I said, looking at the diplomat who was trembling from the cold while his teeth chattered
"They surrender… they accept the terms that you let them return to their lands" said the diplomat as he approached the fire
"Will they hand over their armor and weapons?" I said while taking a good bite of the piece of bread I had made
"Yes, everything, weapons, armor, and horses, they only ask to be allowed to take supplies for the journey home… that is not a problem, right?" said the diplomat
"Not at all, I am interested in the armor, we need to equip the Slavs and continue our advance in the area"
"Well then… I have finished my part here, I can return to where I was" I said, showing himself quite hopeful
"No… what do you think? we have a lot of work to do, this land is full of small Frankish fortifications that we must make surrender one by one, so you have a lot of work ahead" I said with a slight smile as I watched the diplomat's expression fade and his head lower in resignation
As I finished eating, the Frankish defenders came out of the fortress and handed over the vast majority of their weapons and armor, keeping some pieces mainly because of the cold, and I was not going to make a big issue out of that, as it could mean having to wait longer in sieges
Without delay, I gathered the Slavs I had seen were the most efficient in carrying out my orders and distributed the intact Frankish armor among them, removing their hastily repaired armor and putting on equipment that was in perfect condition and well maintained
This caused all the Slavs following me in my armies to begin changing their armor, replacing damaged pieces with new ones, passing them down to other Slavs, and slowly I began to have a better equipped army
With this fortress under my control, I left a group of Varangians to protect it, and repairs to the damage we had inflicted on the walls began
We then spread out across the region, dividing into three groups with the mission of taking all the Frankish fortresses in the March of Pannonia. This was relatively easy, as despite the many castles the Franks had built, it was clear they were divided and had significant differences among them, the Frankish barons showed enormous disparities in wealth
The wealthy barons could afford stone castles that protected the villages that owed them service; this included well armed guards and large food reserves, but of course, they were not being besieged by my entire army, only a third of it, so many fortresses resisted
And there were the poorer Frankish barons, who had wooden keeps and small villages that paid them taxes; these surrendered immediately the moment the first stone shattered their wooden walls and accepted honorable surrender, as they did not want to lose men in a siege, and although victory was certain, I had no way to obtain reinforcements without calling more Varangians and Slavs who were working the lands of their new homes
Thus, day after day passed, watching as thousands of Avars and Franks from the region were transported to the Carpathians to be settled and begin paying tribute directly to the basileus Rhomaion and, of course, to me… when this campaign ends I will be able to afford to search for the gold mines of the Kingdom of Hungary that made it so rich and powerful in the Middle Ages, and that gold will fill my coffers, financing the expansion of my territories, expanding infrastructure and projects
So I was taking this seriously… besieging multiple castles at the same time, sending several scouting parties alert in case they managed to spot any kind of Frankish military unit that might try to relieve pressure in the area
Because the reason many fortresses surrendered without fighting was that they did not know if reinforcements would arrive, and that led them to surrender rather than endure a long and hopeless siege
While we were finishing the sieges of the last fortresses, after nearly a month of sieges without any intervention from the Frankish forces
But while I was observing how the walls of a powerful Frankish baron's fortress were being battered, I noticed riders approaching
"Strategos… Frankish forces have been sighted… we counted as fast as we could, but we managed to count up to 14,000 men and 3,000 horsemen" said the rider, pointing to where he had come from
"A rather small army… the Carolingians have a vast empire… it is strange… go back and count again and make sure your numbers are correct, because if they are, we will greet them immediately" I said while observing the rider
I remained puzzled and dispatched more scouts, because I had expected a massive response from the Franks… not 17,000 men…
So we had to remain alert, as it could be a trap
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