Heaven On Earth: Part One

Page 10 !

Thanks for all the comments!

By bombardment, I mean bombardment with siege engines, etc.

....and yes, Hungary is screwed.....



asd

Important Notice

Up until around Wednesday, there probably won't be any updates. Finals are coming up in school, and I've got work to do.

But after that comes summer, and with summer will come a lot of updates!!



asd

No finals for the rest of the week, then a couple next week!

That means (hopefully) updates this week!!

Thanks for all the comments!



asd

King Koloman I of Hungary tried everything in his power to defend his country. Hungary was very ill-prepared for the war with Orthodoxy. Known as the “book-lover,” Koloman I cared more for scholarly matters than military ones. He would have been considered a great king if not for the time he lived in. He was simply a good king in the wrong time. Hungary needed a military genius, not an intellectual, during the Orthodox-Catholic War. Yet the nation was stuck with Koloman I. Nevertheless, Koloman I did all he could to raise as large an army as fast as possible.

He taxed his people as much as he could without killing them, and took every able-bodied man and reportedly some women too, into the army. He may not have been a military genius, but he was smart enough to know that the Orthodox were bent on the total domination of Hungary, and the only way to possibly stop them would be to raise the largest army possible.


But in reality, the situation was practically hopeless. His nation was almost completely surrounded by Orthodox nations. In the fall of 1109, Russian and Orthodox troops came pouring over Hungary’s borders. The Orthodox troops mainly focused on capturing the larger cities and towns of Hungary like Buda and Pest. The roughly 75,000 Orthodox troops were far more organized than their Russian partners. Also, the Orthodox troops were far better commanded and kind to their captives. The Russians, on the other hand, were brutal in their tactics.

The Russian hordes, on the war path through Hungary, conducted many massacres at hundreds of villages and towns across Hungary. The largest single massacre of the Russian campaign was at Miskolc, where it is estimated over 10,000 Hungarians were killed. At nearly every town, whether it had surrendered or not, the Russian troops rushed in and killed its civilians, under the justification that it was revenge for the Nubian Massacres. To not shame his Empire’s name, Alexius I made sure to condemn these actions.


However, to say that the Imperial troops did not massacre any villages would be a lie. Even the highly skilled Imperial generals could not fully control their troops. And because of this many massacres, although on a smaller scale than the Russians, were committed by the Orthodox army. However, while both the Russians and Orthodox killed the people. The Russians differed in that they also burned the towns. The Russians saw no need to keep the Hungarian infrastructure intact, as they never planned the occupy it.

This caused everything east of the Danube to be laid to waste. The entire land of Hungary dissolved into chaos with most of its land in Russian hands, and therefore destroyed. The entire kingdom collapsed and Koloman I and his family were publicly killed by Russian soldiers. The large conscripted armies were destroyed, too unorganized to truly fight off Russian or Imperial troops. The Rape of Hungary caused over 60,000 lives and a very dark moment in history for both Hungary and Orthodoxy.

One could say the whole matter was simply an affair of generals loosing control of their war-crazed troops. But to say that would simplify the matter. Just like the Nubian Massacre, the leadership played a role in the Rape. The killings were too systematic in both Nubia and Hungary to call “massacres.” Nevertheless, with Hungary in Orthodox hands by early spring 1110, it was time for Imperial troops to move deeper into Germany and Italy. And that is when the true battles of the war would take place.

RGB said:

Well, I'm somewhat surprised that the Russians had managed to find Hordes of themselves. It wasn't a particularly populous country in the period.

As to the behaviour, that was somewhat commonplace everywhere in Europe. Smaller-scale campaigns were often all about robbing the enemy's peasants and burning his infrastructure, so it's little surprise that Rus princes carried out the usual practice writ large.

Poor Hungary, though.

Click to expand...

You may be confusing the terms Orthodox with Russian. When I say Russian I'm referring to the Rus. When I say Orthodox or Imperial I'm referring to only the Orthodox Empire.

As for the behavior, I try to make it seem as medieval as possible. I'd like to make it more graphic and detailed as to what went on, but I know Paradox's stance on controversial topics and the "g" word. Basically, just think of it as large, unusual massacres and total destruction.

Actually, the idea for a total destruction of Hungary came from a M2TW game of mine. As the Byzantine Empire, I invaded Hungary and choose "sack" for each town. I did this every once in awhile for extra funds . Anyway, within a couple of decades, Hungary was completely ruined. Each town had a very sparse population and few buildings.....what?! I needed the money!!

PS: Don't worry, glorification is still around, the saint is currently working on his answers (hopefully!)

EDIT: When I try to see a post only, I don't get a new tab, any idea how to fix this?



asd

After thoroughly crushing the populace of Hungary, the two armies moved elsewhere. For the Russians, southern Germany was next, for the Empire, northern Italy. Imperial reinforcements from Hungary arrived in the summer of 1110 to aid the army already besieging Venice. Now the Orthodox forces besieging the city of Venice were raised to about 50,000. This rejuvenation would be the Imperial army’s salvation and Venice’s doom.

Before the forces arrived, Venice was holding out rather well. Their navy reigned supreme on the Adriatic, keeping trade and supplies still open. And the many defenses of both water and stone, surrounding the city kept it safe from the Orthodox attacks, save for occasional bombardments by large trebuchets and catapults.

But with the new reinforcements came new hope and more siege weapons. The Imperial army, rejuvenated and with stronger morale, once again gave an endless barrage of flaming stones onto the city. The walls of Venice, once strong and well-maintained, were now overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Imperial army. And so they crumbled.

And with the destruction of the Venetian walls, came the exposure of several bridges leading into the main city itself. The Imperial generals took advantage of this and rushed their forces to these bridges. But the Venetians could also use these bridges to their advantage. Even though the Venetians were outnumbered, the bridges provided a level battlefield. The bridges would squeeze in both forces across a narrow front and make numbers useless.


Instead, skill would decide the victor. And the Venetians led in that department. The highly trained Venetian troops were able to hack down the numerous, yet non-professional, Orthodox troops. At one point in the battle, it seemed as if the Venetians would win. The Imperial generals realized this and made a drastic decision. They moved their siege engines close to the bridges and fired upon the structure of the bridges themselves. Within a couple of volleys, the bridges collapsed, sending both Orthodox and Venetian soldiers into the summer waters below. Hundreds died, mainly because their heavy armor made it nearly impossible to swim.

The Venetian troops, after seeing what the Orthodox siege engines were doing, evacuated their troops off the bridges. But the Orthodox leadership left just one bridge unscathed. It was on this that the Imperial army now concentrated its forces. And since this bridge was all but undefended, thousands of Imperial troops were able to cross without any interference. Once inside the city, the Imperial numbers won out over the Venetian skill on the much wider battleground.


So, by the early morning of June 19th 1110, Venice was in Imperial hands. The vital and rich Catholic trading center was in Orthodox hands. Its civilians were not treated like the Hungarians. Instead, they were left alive and allowed to carry on their regular lives, as long as they did not interfere with Imperial matters. Most of the Imperial stayed within the city for the inevitable counterattack from the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile, a smaller force of about 5,000 Orthodox troops would roam the surrounding area and secure the many villages and towns of Venetia.

While all this was going on, the Russians were continuing their rampage in southern Germany and Bohemia and the siege of Rome was continuing, with barely any conflict at all. The Russians repeated their tactics of brutality and massacred much of the populace, though much less publicly and on a lesser scale compared to Hungary, as to not attract unwanted attention from Alexius I. It was in Germany that something would happen that would shape the world in a way unprecedented. It was in Germany that a battle would be fought that is second only to Manzikert in significance.