A Narrative History of Byzantium, Book 1: Gloria Sine Fine

[HistoryDude]

Sorry about yesterday lacking an update. Here's an extra long update to make up for it... Also, don't forget to vote in the H1 ACAs!



Anastasios turned to the other commander. Priscus led the new Legio IV Scythia, and Anastasios figured that he should run his plan by his co-commander before he did anything. Miscommunications - or simple lack of communication - had destroyed many armies. That had even been the cause of Cannae, which had almost destroyed the Roman Republic.

Anastasios wasn’t entirely sure which city this was. He was almost certain that he hadn’t ever been here. The Crimean Goths seemed to be using this settlement as a base, but it looked hastily built… Anastasios believed that the city would surrender quickly if the army defending it was destroyed.

Of course, that raised the question: why was the base of the Crimean Goths here? The site of the city boasted no obvious geographic advantage. It was situated by the sea, but, as far as Anastasios knew, the Crimean Goths possessed no fleet. It was hypothetically possible that they’d built one in the years that had passed since he’d last been here, albeit unlikely.

Anastasios sighed. Perhaps talking with his co-commander would help. Even if they couldn’t figure out why this was where the Crimean Goths were making their stand, they could probably still figure out what their army’s plan of action would be. They had time to plan, as it seemed that the Gothic army had no plan to attack them… or if they did, they weren’t going to attack the Eastern Romans yet.

Anastasios asked Priscus to meet him in his tent. When Priscus wondered why, Anastasios responded that they needed to talk.

Anastasios’s tent was very low-key. It had a bed, where Anastasios slept, but that was pretty much it. There was, however, a lot of empty space in it, so the two commanders of Eastern Roman forces could sit down and talk in it.

“Why did you ask me here?” Priscus asked.

“Two reasons,” Anastasios answered. “The first one is that we need a plan of attack. The second is that we need to figure out what our enemies are planning.”

“Those are good reasons,” Priscus acknowledged. “But why do we need to know what our enemies are planning? We need to make our own plan on how to defeat them, yes, but why will knowing the plan of our opponents help us?”

Anastasios sighed. “If we know what our enemies are going to do, then we can make our own plans that account for their plans. If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither your enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. That’s from a book on warfare from the Far East, and it’s good advice.”

“Fair point,” Priscus conceded. “So, we know what we must do. Now, how do we do it?”

“In many battles, the plans of the enemy seem somewhat obvious,” Anastasios began. “That isn’t the case here, however. The fortress that the Goths are defending seems hastily built, so it is most likely a base of operations. Why is their base here, though? The site offers no obvious geographical advantages, so why did our enemies establish a base here?”

“I have an idea as to why,” Priscus responded.

“What is it?” Anastasios asked.

“You are thinking in terms of your enemies attempting to use natural occurrences against you,” Priscus began. “However, in bygone eras, as I assume you, at least partially, know of, some states have attempted to create artificial barriers to conquest. Often, this was because they didn’t have another option.”
“Still, why here?” Anastasios interrupted. “Why wouldn’t the Goths attempt to hide in Crimean Mountains? They would likely be safe from our armies there.”

“I was getting to that,” Priscus said. “The Goths know that we want revenge for their interference in our affairs. They know that they can’t escape our wrath, even if they did try to hide in the mountains. We would simply storm up the mountains, and they know - or, at least, believe - that we’d simply send in more troops if we failed to defeat them at first. News travels, of course, but any news of our war with the Sassanids would either have to pass through our lands or the numerous states of the Caucasus, so they’re most likely unaware of the fact that we’re at war with the Sassanids.”

“In short,” Anastasios summed up. “They think that they’re in a much worse situation than they’re actually in.”

“Yes,” Priscus answered.

“Why is this their base, then?” Anastasios asked.

“Remember what I said about artificial barriers to conquest?” Priscus asked.

Anastasios nodded.

“This was once a fortress,” Priscus continued. “It defended the old Bosporan Kingdom from attacks by the Scythians. It had extremely thick walls. The Goths sacked it when they arrived in this area. However, settlement here survived the sack, although the city was ultimately abandoned due to pirates. The Goths are most likely using this area as a base because it used to be a fortress, and they can defend it against any sea-born invaders. That means that they only have to worry about land attacks from the west.”

“That makes sense,” Anastasios noted. “So, all of their forces are in the army in front of us?”

“Most likely, although a few might have been left to defend the walls to the city, which is - or, rather, was - called Kimmerikon,” Priscus nodded.

“How do you know all of this?” Anastasios wondered.

“My ancestors were from Taurica when it was still under Roman rule,” Priscus admitted. “I heard stories of what it was like from them, and I also studied the area in my free time. That is likely one of the reasons why I was chosen to lead the new Scythian Legion. Now, what’s our plan of attack?”

“I don’t actually know that yet,” Anastasios admitted, frowning. “I have a few ideas, though.”

“We can start with that,” Priscus said. “Obviously, our plan shouldn’t be too specific, as we want to allow it to adapt to circumstances on the battlefield.”

 

[HistoryDude]

Anastasios agreed with that. No plan ever survived contact with the enemy in war. They needed to leave room for improvisation.

“We should try our best to take advantage of the terrain,” Anastasios suggested. “Our enemies will likely try to do the same, at least somewhat.”

“Good point,” Priscus responded. “We know that they are primarily defending from an attack from west of the city… so we could attempt to bypass this army entirely. The question is how do we do that?”

Anastasios considered this plan. Yes, if they could successfully bypass the entire Gothic army, that would be amazing, as it would allow the Eastern Romans to attack from behind, which the Crimean Goths would almost certainly not expect. However, there were downsides to this plan. If the Goths attacked the army before it had moved to their flank, then the Eastern Roman army could very well be nearly utterly annihilated. That would be an unmitigated disaster.

Anastasios voiced these concerns to Priscus. Priscus quickly considered this, and he realized that Anastasios made good points. He frowned. He knew that it would be next to impossible to make a foolproof plan, but he still wanted a plan with as few risks as possible.

“Perhaps,” Priscus began. “We could attempt to flank them, but, if we do that, we should ensure that they believe that we aren’t flanking them.”

“Yes,” Anastasios agreed. “And, to ensure that, we should move our troops at night, when the Goths are likely to be sleeping… to ensure that they believe we couldn’t possibly be attacking from behind them, we should send some soldiers to launch a direct attack upon the Gothic line. If our opponents are distracted fighting for their lives, they will be much less likely to care about where troops are going. They will likely expect all of us to be attacking.”

“Indeed,” Priscus agreed. “This plan is broad enough that it won’t limit what we can do in the actual battle much.”

The Gothic army continued to stand still. They wouldn’t attack, apparently. Many of them were asleep, as night had fallen. And, with darkness as their shield, the vast majority of both Anastasios’s army and the Legio IV Scythia moved north.

The few Gothic soldiers that watched the Kimmorikon’s northern wall noticed the mobile army, and they attacked. The Eastern Roman forces massacred them and continued to move. Soon, they reached the city’s eastern walls, and they attacked the extremely scant forces defending them.

The sun had risen by now, and the few remaining soldiers west of Kimmerikon had awoken. They knew the plan, and so they attacked the large Gothic army. Although they knew that they weren’t meant to win this battle, they fought on anyway. Few men wanted death, although they knew that it would come for them.

Their desperation allowed them to kill many Goths. They held on. After all, if they held on long enough, they might just survive this battle.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the Eastern Roman army broke through Kimmerikon’s eastern walls. They quickly took the city, and, then, they opened up the city’s western walls.

From behind, they attacked the Gothic army. At first, the Goths didn’t notice. However, soon, they began to notice that they were being attacked from behind. Many Goths fled the battlefield while they still could. Others fought on. For four days and four nights, the battle was fought. Finally, the few Goths who hadn’t fled were either captured or killed.

Anastasios and Priscus secured the Gothic chief’s surrender a few days later.

Meanwhile, in the East, the Sassanids and Eastern Romans continued with their age old conflict.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius frowned. He was about to fight against the Sassanids in defense - preemptive defense - of his home in Armenia. Once, during ancient times, a single legion was the only force that was needed to conquer entire realms. Once, the legions of the mighty Roman Empire were feared throughout the known world, and few dared to challenge Roman might. That was before the West fell, perhaps before the Empire was split in half. Galerius dreamt of a return to those glorious days. When some kings would rather kneel to Rome than fight them.

But, despite these memories, Galerius knew that Rome’s glory days were over. Sure, the Emperor wanted to launch a reconquest of the West, but that would drain his resources. Any restoration of Roman glory would take many years, and, perhaps, it would not be worth it.

Galerius was Armenian, and he knew of Rome’s glory days from his father’s - and his grandfather’s - stories. He had read some texts on Rome at its height, as well. But, as much as Galerius knew of Rome’s glory days, he also knew that they were over.

Galerius thought of this as he marched to the border with the Sassanids. His legion, the Legio I Armeniaca, was marching with two other legions. Those legions were the two Isaurian legions, known for their loyalty to the Isaurian dynasty above all. Thankfully, the Isaurian dynasty were the current Emperors, so Galerius almost certainly didn’t have to worry about their loyalties.

Galerius worried, however, about the loyalty of his own legion. Once, most of the Legio I Armeniaca had turned on the Empire recently. They had been fighting in Odoacer’s realm - in the old provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia - and Odoacer had bribed them into becoming traitors. Greed had almost completely destroyed two legions, then.

The once-mighty Legio I Armeniaca had been filled with new recruits due to the war. They were from Armenia, yes, but they weren’t forced to go through the training that most members of the old legion had to. Galerius himself had been promoted in the aftermath of the disaster at Siscia. He was one of the few members of the Armenian Legion that hadn’t turned, despite the promises of much gold.

That event had left Galerius thoroughly distrustful of his own legion. They’d already turned on the Eastern Roman Empire once, so what said that they wouldn’t do so again?

However, Galerius was forced to somewhat trust his legion due to the new war. He decided that he’d have the few legionaires that hadn’t betrayed the Empire during the Siscian fiasco would keep watch over their comrades. They would report any suspicious activity back to him, which would hopefully avoid a repeat of Siscia.

Of course, Galerius needed to plan for battle with his fellow commanders of Eastern Roman legions. Not communicating with them could lead to disaster. When a soldier’s orders contradicted ideas of what would be best in battle, disaster was often the result. Then again, everything had worked out fine the few times that was tried lately, but that was with only two armies, and some of those victories were Pyrrhic ones. Battle approached, and the three legions that would face the Sassanids needed to be prepared.

 

[HistoryDude]

Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday. Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it.


Galerius knew that he needed to speak with his fellow commanders, but doing so meant creating a plan. They were only slightly more than halfway to a border with the Sassanids. They had absolutely no clue where they would be fighting the Sassanids. Any plan would need to be very broad, and they’d need to expand on it later. Galerius would prefer to get all the planning done at once.

However, Galerius didn’t like waiting, and he especially didn’t like doing nothing. Marching required no thought, and Galerius didn’t like days where he didn’t think much. Indeed, he hated days where he did nothing. He wanted to do something, anything, at all times. Unfortunately, that sometimes wasn’t possible.

For a few days, Galerius did manage to do nothing except march. Unfortunately, as those days passed, he got more and more bored. Finally, he decided that he was willing to discuss strategies with his fellow commanders if it broke the infuriating monotony that doing nothing except marching was.

He went to the tents of his fellow commanders. He asked them if they could discuss plans, so that the Sassanids didn’t take advantage of their disorganization. Thankfully, the commanders of the two Isaurian legions did agree to do that.

Both Isaurian legions were commanded by men with white skin and black hair. These men were named Albinus and Clementius. Galerius figured that their ancestors had probably adopted Latin names or that they had migrated to Isauria from elsewhere in the Empire. The only way Galerius could tell the difference between them was by their facial hair. Albinus was clean-shaven, while Clementius had a short beard.

For a long while, the meeting tent was silent. They had decided to meet in Galerius’s tent, given that he was the one who had proposed that they meet in the first place.

Personally, Galerius wasn’t sure what the difference between the two Isaurian legions was. They were both composed of men from the province of Isauria, and, therefore, presumably loyal to the Imperial Throne, if only because the Imperial Throne was Isaurian in the current eon. Maybe the difference was skill? Galerius didn’t really care, but he needed to think about something in the silence.

Finally, Clementius broke the silence, which was beginning to seriously annoy Galerius. “So, why do you think we need to discuss plans?”

“If we don’t discuss plans,” Galerius replied. “Then, our armies will be disorganized, and our enemies could take advantage of that disorganization.”

“True enough,” Clementius mused. “However, we can only make very broad plans. After all, a lot of battles are dependent upon terrain. This also means that we will need to edit - well, expand - our plan later.”

“Why can’t we just attempt to deduce where the Sassanids will attack?” Galerius asked.

Clementius rolled his eyes. “Because our border with the Sassanids stretches across a vast expanse - they could attack anywhere along that border - they could attack in Armenia, Syria, or Arabia. Granted, they will most likely strike along our Armenian border, but that doesn’t really narrow things down much.”

“So, we’ll begin by sending scouts along the Armenian border?” Albinus asked.

“Yes,” Clementius replied. “That should allow us to plan our attack terrain-wise, as they will also be scouting out terrain.”

“Wait,” Galerius began. “What about if there are multiple Sassanid forces?”

“Then, we will attack the strongest one,” Clementius replied.

Galerius frowned. “Why the strongest?”

“Because the stronger one force is, the more of a threat it will be later,” Clementius responded. “We can attack the weak forces later. They’ll be easy to defeat, but we need to destroy the strong forces to ensure that they don’t unite with weaker forces and become even stronger.”

“Fair point,” Galerius conceded. “Can we begin the actual planning now?”

“Sure,” Clementius said. “Okay, so, if we outnumber the Sassanid army, we attack head on. If they outnumber us, we need to resort to trickery. If our numbers are even, resorting to trickery is probably the best plan.”

“Indeed,” Galerius agreed. “Although trickery could still be helpful even if we outnumber them, as it could allow casualties to be lessened. We want as few casualties as possible - any dead troops are troops that we can’t use later.”

Albinus and Clementius left Galerius’s tent, and Galerius went to sleep. He didn’t dream. After that, he continued to march with the army until they reached the border. The scouts reported that the largest Sassanid force was at Nusaybin, and Clementius called another meeting to discuss their strategy.

“Their largest force is in Nusaybin, so that’s where we’re attacking, I take it?” Galerius asked.

“Correct,” Clementius responded. “Now, a river flows through Nusaybin, so we could attempt to take advantage of that. Of course, it runs through the city, so we would have to actually control the city for that to work.”

“Thankfully, we do control it, so that plan might work,” Galerius observed. “The Sassanids are besieging the city, as it is a major border city, so they hope its capture can allow them inroads into the Empire - particularly into Anatolia.”

“How long can it hold out?” Albinus asked. Galerius blinked. Albinus rarely spoke, or at least that was the impression he got from the last meeting. However, the question he had asked was a good point.

Galerius smiled. “It has long been a border fortress,” he said. “It’s the capital of the province of Mesopotamia at the moment, so it is heavily defended. Some call it the ‘Shield of the Empire’. It earned that title from holding on for 13 years against the Sassanids. It’ll hold. We have time.”

“I have a plan,” Clementius said, “We let the Sassanids believe they have won the siege. When they inevitably begin to sack the city, we will already be in it. We attempt to prevent the sacking, or, at least, we make it look like that’s what’s happening. In reality, we corner them. We ensure that the river is to their backs. However, we leave the area to their right open. Many will retreat that way, and they won’t fight as hard, knowing that they’ll have a way out.”

“My legion will be in front of them,” Galerius agreed. “And your legion will join forces with Albinus’s legion to block off their left. We’ll keep control of the city by the battle’s end, and they will have lost thousands of soldiers.”

Everybody agreed to that plan, and Galerius and Albinus left Clementius’s tent. At first, the plan seemed to be going well - they got to and inside Nusaybin without difficulty. Unfortunately, the people defending the city against the siege refused to let the Sassanids in.

Galerius sighed. He didn’t like this, but he knew that it was a possibility. After all, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. He decided to call another commanders’s meeting.

“You know,” Galerius commented. “We seem to be meeting a lot lately. Maybe we should have a command tent specifically for these meetings? Anyways, it seems as if the locals won’t let the Sassanids in. As such, we need another plan. Ideas?”

“A command tent sounds like a good idea,” Clementius said. “Also, since we can’t take advantage of nature, we could just attack them head on. We do outnumber them.”

“The odds are decent,” Galerius replied. “But I’d prefer to not rely on numbers. Could we flank them?”

Clementius considered this. “Flanking them would be difficult. It’s possible, but, if we try to do so, they’ll probably notice us.”

“Right,” Galerius grumbled. “We need to somehow get past their army without them noticing that we’re attempting to surround them. Wait. Oh. Yeah, that could work.”

“What could work?” Clementius snapped.

“Instead of sending one large force to flank them, we gradually move small forces around their lines. We do this late at night, when their scouts are less likely to be awake.”

“Hmm,” Clementius mused. “Yes, that could work.”

The two commanders of Isaurian legions left Galerius’s tent. The three commanders put their plan into action. The forces sent behind the Sassanid forces were mainly from the Isaurian legions. Galerius still wanted to keep an eye on his legion. After all, they had betrayed the Empire once before.

By September, a large army was behind the Sassanids. The three legions attacked at once. The Sassanids were taken by complete surprise, and they were either killed, captured, or they fled.

The three legions briefly celebrated their victory, but everybody knew that this was merely the beginning. The war had only just begun.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius considered possibilities. He didn’t trust his legion that much, but they hadn’t abandoned the Empire at Nusaybin. In addition, he knew that most of his legion - even some members that had abandoned the Empire at Siscia - absolutely hated the Sassanid Empire. As such, he figured he could at least partially trust his legion not to backstab him… in this conflict. That being said, he didn’t trust them in any war that wasn’t against the Sassanids. Nothing united people like a common enemy did, after all.

Of course, Galerius also needed to know where the next battle would be. He’d need to speak with his fellow commanders. He idly wondered if they’d keep in touch even after the war was over but quickly dismissed the thought. There might not be an after a war for him, after all - or for anyone.

He blinked. Where had that thought come from? This war might be changing him in more ways than he realized.

He blinked. Such thoughts would do him no good in the middle of a war. He needed to plan his next moves. To do that, he’d need to meet with Clementius and Albinus. Actually, he could probably just meet with Clementius and have him relay the plan to Albinus, given how little Albinus had actually contributed to the plan last time. However, last time could’ve been an exception for all he knew.

Actually, that meeting tent was starting to sound like a good idea now. He’d mostly been joking about that, but it probably hadn’t been taken as a joke, and it would be very useful. He didn’t appreciate it when other people were in his living space, and his tent had become his living space as of late.

He wrote to the commanders of the twin Isaurian legions suggesting as much and also suggesting that they hold a meeting there. His fellow commanders agreed quickly.

“We need to attack the next largest Sassanid force as soon as we can,” Galerius said, starting the meeting. “We can’t allow them to regroup. We’ve defeated them before, yes, but they’ve always bounced back. They still exist. We need to ensure that they aren’t a threat to the Eastern Roman Empire for at least a generation.”

“You’re saying that we need to utterly annihilate the Sassanid military?” Clementius asked.

Galerius nodded in silent assent. “Their might was destroyed a few years ago when we were ruled by Emperor Longinus. That didn’t stop them from supporting the rebellion against him. We need to crush them - truly crush them. Not crush their forces on the border as Longinus did but crush all of their forces. We want to ensure that they won’t be able to fight us on equal terms for generations to come.”

“I have already sent scouts around much of the border territory,” Albinus began. “My colleague,” - he nodded at Clementius as he said that - “has done this also.”

“What did these scouts discover?” Galerius asked.

“They discovered many Sassanid armies, but the largest of these armies was in Cilicia,” Clementius responded. “The part of Cilicia primarily occupied by Armenians, to be more precise. They were attempting to take Adana.”

“Can Adana hold?” Galerius wondered.

“Perhaps,” Clementius replied unconvincingly. “That also raises the question of whether or not we want it to hold. Entrapping the Sassanids inside the city might lead to a greater victory.”

“True,” Galerius said. “But we can make that decision when we arrive there. We’ve been heading in that direction anyway.”

Everybody agreed with that idea, and the meeting was adjourned.

When the three legions arrived in Adana, it was on the verge of falling. They decided to let it fall. Once it fell, the Sassanids began to rampage throughout the city. Of course, the Eastern Roman commanders weren’t stupid - they knew that this would happen. They had gotten into the city before it fell.

The Legio I Armeniaca formed at the Seyhan River. They had their backs to that river, and Galerius liked that - it meant that they couldn’t retreat. Many Sassanids attempted to attack them, but none of those soldiers succeeded in defeating them.

Galerius smiled. His plan had worked. Many Sassanid soldiers attempted to attack them, which distracted them from pillaging Adana. He had his legion take initiative. They moved to attack the rampaging Sassanid soldiers.

Meanwhile, the two Isaurian legions had formed a defensive line around a cathedral named Surp Asdvadzadzin. All of the Sassanid troops eventually fell back there due to the onslaught of the Legio I Armeniaca. They hoped they wouldn’t be attacked in a holy place. Galerius wondered why they thought that the Romans would obey ideas that the Sassanids hadn’t. After all, they had attempted to pillage almost all of the holy places in the city.

The Armeniaca beared down on them from in front, and many Sassanid troops tried to retreat. They were slaughtered by the Isaurian legions. Very few Sassanid soldiers made it out of Adana both alive and free. Almost none made it out uninjured.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius frowned. The Eastern Romans had won in Adana, and it hadn’t been very difficult, but he had a problem. How had the Sassanids even gotten to Adana in the first place? Adana was in Cilicia, which was west of Armenia. He wondered how far into the Empire other Sassanid forces could’ve gotten. They probably wouldn’t actually be that large a threat, but they still needed to be dealt with.

He decided to take initiative. He sent numerous scouts from his army. They were to primarily check Armenia and Mesopotamia for Sassanid forces, but a few were sent to Pontus or instructed to remain in Cilicia. Galerius didn’t know how far in some Sassanid forces had somehow gotten… and it was likely that they’d target Anatolia first, as the Eastern Romans valued it more than Syria. In addition, they would need to go through Syria to get to Palestine or Egypt.
Clementius was the one to call a meeting in the meeting tent this time. Galerius had expected that.

“I’m assuming that we’re planning for the next battle now?” Galerius asked.

“Yes,” Clementius answered. “Also, can we just assume that these meetings are going to happen a few days after a battle is over, at least until the Sassanid Empire surrenders this time?”

“We can,” Albinus replied. “It seems like we’re doing that anyway, and officializing it will save both ink and papyrus.”

“Ok,” Galerius said. “Anyways, I’ve sent numerous scouts around the border between us and the Sassanids. I sent scouts to both Armenia and Mesopotamia, but I also sent scouts to Pontus and told some to search here. After all, the Sassanids somehow managed to get here, so what says that they never managed to get further west? Also, how did the Sassanids get here, anyway? Wouldn’t that require them to cross all of Armenia without us noticing?”

“We did notice,” Clementius said, rolling his eyes. “We just decided that the army at Nusaybin was a greater threat. We reasoned that we can always destroy the smaller army later, which we did. Anyway, where is the next largest Sassanid force?”

“It’s east of here, in Mesopotamia,” Galerius responded. “It’s currently heading towards Araden.”

“It’s east of here? How long would it take to march there?” Clementius asked. “Is it in the portion of Mesopotamia closest to us, or is it closer to the Zagros Mountains? Would we have to cross Sassanid territory to fight this army?”

“It would take about a month to march there,” Galerius replied. “We shouldn’t have to cross Sassanid territory - or at least territory that was under Sassanid control before this war started. Of course, Araden could’ve fallen by the time we arrive.”

“Is it likely that it will have fallen when we arrive?” Albinus wondered.

“It’s doubtful that it will have fallen,” Galerius answered. “The Sassanid army that we’re talking about hasn’t even reached Araden yet. And it will only take us a month to get there - as I mentioned before. Possibly even less time if we hurry. Almost any city can hold out for a month.”

“So,” Clementius began. “We plan as if Araden has held. Is there anything we can take advantage of in Araden’s vicinity?” He directed that last part at Galerius.

Galerius frowned. “My scouts say that it is located in a valley, but I don’t think that can help us that much.”

Albinus bit his lip. “Actually,” he began. “As long as the city holds, we can take advantage of that fact.”

“Wait, we can? How?” Clementius asked, turning to look at his fellow commander.

“The Sassanid troops will need to be in the valley in order to besiege the city,” Albinus began. “This means that we can take a position above them. We can put our archers in the front and have them shoot arrows from above.”

“That’s a good idea,” Galerius commented. “All in favor?”

Clementius quickly agreed, so everyone was in support of the plan. Thankfully, the plan went perfectly. Many Sassanids tried to retreat, but few succeeded, due to the fact that escaping would basically require the amount of physical exercise equivalent to climbing a mountain. Needless to say, very few Sassanids escaped alive.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius smiled. Multiple Sassanid forces had been destroyed. The plan for dealing with the great numbers of the Sassanids was working. Of course, it hadn’t only been that plan, and it did require quite a lot of scouting, but that was fine.

Anyway, he had a meeting about what his legion and the two legions they were working with were going to do next… soon. He wasn’t actually sure exactly when, as “sometime after the battle” wasn’t that specific. He figured he had some time, as the others and he generally didn’t make plans with incomplete information. Doing that would have been next to suicide, especially in the battles where they were in either Sassanid or ex-Sassanid territory. Basically, any territory which the Sassanids had ruled over in recent years needed to be treated with caution.

He’d sent scouts around Mesopotamia and Armenia alone this time. He had no wish to march across lots of territory. If a large force had somehow managed to get past Armenia, then they could be dealt with later. However, it was extremely unlikely that anybody would now, as he’d heard that the Legio IV Scythia was being ferried to Armenia from the recently conquered Cherson. He didn’t think that that was a great idea because he didn’t think Cherson was fully subdued, but the Imperial Throne probably thought that the Sassanids were a much more pressing threat at the moment.

He decided that the meeting would probably start soon, if it hadn’t already, so he should probably go to the new meeting tent. He had information for the meeting now at least.

He walked into the tent, and the first words he heard were, “finally, we’ve been waiting forever,” from Clementius. He didn’t think that it would be productive to reply to that.

“Did either of you send out scouts?” he asked as he took a seat.

“Yes,” Clementius answered as Albinus nodded. “But did you not?”

“No, I did,” Galerius responded. “My scouts found that the next largest Sassanid force, at least in Armenia and Mesopotamia, was at Haykaberd.”

“So did ours,” Clementius replied. “Haykaberd is located in a valley, so how can we use that information?”

“Okay,” Galerius began. “It’s located on a ridge that overlooks a plain… Oh. That could work…”

“What could work?” Albinus asked, sounding somewhat annoyed.

Galerius smiled. “We could attempt to trick the Sassanids into running into the valley, causing them to fall to their deaths,” he said. The other two commanders rolled their eyes. “However, that isn’t a great plan. I do have another one, thankfully.”

Clementius sighed. “Okay, what’s that plan?”

“We corner them,” Galerius said frankly. “We defend the walls of the city, trapping them between us and, well, the ridge. They would be forced to either fight or fall to their deaths. Yes, they could technically retreat by running sideways, but those that tried that will be viewed as cowards. In addition, if anybody who isn’t at the edge of their army attempts that, they would send the entire army into disarray…”

“That is a good plan,” Clementius said. “That will be what we do, assuming there are no complications… and there are almost always complications.” And, on that semi-depressing note, the meeting ended.

The three legions arrived at Haykaberd in early winter. Thankfully, the weather didn’t affect their plans. The besieging army that was near the valley was completely crushed, but the Sassanids had divided their army into two in order to get the city to surrender more quickly.

The leaders of the three legions thus had to decide what to do about the army on the city’s other end. They decided to simply attack them head on… but from behind. That army was mostly destroyed, but a few soldiers from it escaped. Despite that, the Armenian city was saved, and the Eastern Romans were victorious.

The three commanders received orders that instructed them not to wait out the winter. The Imperial Throne figured that the war was on the verge of being won, and pressing their advantage was the best move.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius wasn’t that happy about the orders, but orders were orders. He was a loyal Roman citizen, so he would obey orders, especially direct orders from his Emperor. Also, he did realize that pressing the advantage that they’d gained over the Sassanids was probably a good idea, although he really didn’t like cold areas that much. Honestly, he wished that the Sassanid armies gathered in areas where it wasn’t that cold, but he doubted that they would. After all, they had to know that it’s easier to defend a city when the weather is against your enemies.

Galerius sighed. Mentally hoping for things wasn’t a productive use of his time. What was done was done, and it could never be undone, at least not by the hands of men. He figured that the other two commanders would send scouts across Mesopotamia and Armenia, so he sent his scouts to Arabia both to ensure that the Sassanid forces weren’t gathering for a surprise attack and to ensure that the Ghassanids were still unsubjugated by the Persians.

What he found surprised him. He was definitely going to need to tell his fellow commanders about this at their meeting. He frowned. He’d been delaying going to the meeting tent long enough, even if that wasn’t deliberate. He was probably expected a few days ago.

Thankfully, it seemed as if the others had taken the time to contemplate their new orders as well. As such, Galerius wasn’t viewed as late, but rather as on time.

“Just to get this one thing clear,” Albinus began. “All of us are continuing with this campaign through the winter, as we have been ordered to, correct?”

Both Galerius and Clementius nodded in response to that. “Okay,” Albinus said. “You two can do the planning now, then. I might throw out some thoughts on occasion, as well.”

“Very well,” Galerius said. “Clementius, I’m assuming that you sent your scouts across Mesopotamia and Armenia? If you didn’t, we might have a problem. A large problem.”

Clementius blinked. “I did,” he replied. “I’m pretty sure Albinus did, as well, so, even if I hadn’t, it shouldn’t have been that large a problem. Why? If you didn’t send your scouts across Armenia and Mesopotamia, where did you send them? Or did you give them a break?”

“I didn’t give them a break,” Galerius said. “I sent my scouts to Arabia. This was to ensure that the Sassanids weren’t secretly launching an attack on the Levant, for one thing. What they discovered was… interesting, to say the least.”

“Oh?” Clementius asked, raising an eyebrow. “What did they discover, then?”
Galerius winced. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the Sassanids aren’t attempting a sneak attack through the Levant… at least they aren’t right now. The bad news is that they have managed to vassalize almost the entirety of northern Arabia. This might be the source of their great military might, despite the fact that we recently defeated them. Thankfully, the Ghassanids still hold out against them, so we won’t have to fight multiple wars on two fronts.”

“That is indeed worrying news,” Clementius said. “We should do something about it, but we shouldn’t yet. Alerting Emperor Justinian might be a good idea.”

“I was already planning on doing that,” Galerius said. “Moving on, where’s the largest Sassanid army currently present in Armenia or Mesopotamia?”

“It’s in Gardman in Armenia,” Clementius answered.

“Gardman’s a rather general area,” Galerius said. “It’s not a city, it’s a region. Can you be more specific?”

“Nope,” Clementius answered. “I would if I could. This army is spread out across much of the region.”

“That means that it’s spread thin,” Galerius realized. Then, he smiled. “Okay, I can work with that. I have a plan.” He shared the plan in the meeting, and the two commanders of Isaurian legions agreed with it.

The three legions marched to Gardman. They entered the region unopposed, and, then, they put their plan into action. The Eastern Romans attacked the scattered Sassanid armies. These small armies were quickly destroyed, and few of their members survived. However, news of these attacks reached the other small Sassanid armies.

These Sassanid armies worried, and they decided to attempt to unite near the center of the region. Thousands of Sassanid troops managed to unite, but the Eastern Romans did manage to kill or capture some men attempting to reach the new rendezvous point.

Galerius sent his scouts across the region. He instructed them to look for large Sassanid armies. He hoped to determine where all of the Sassanids were going. Naturally, he assumed that they were uniting for a last stand.

The scouts reported where the Sassanids had gone, and Galerius shared this information with both Clementius and Albinus. The three legions moved to the location of the Sassanid army. Then, they simply attacked them head on. Thousands of men fought for their lives that day, but the three legions ultimately emerged victorious.

Galerius noticed that some Sassanid troops were managing to escape, but he figured that they weren’t numerous enough to cause any lasting damage to the Eastern Roman Empire. Galerius walked among the battlefield, and he looked around. He lamented the loss of so many lives, but what else could he have done? The Sassanids threatened Roman hegemony - they needed to be destroyed.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius smiled. Victory was almost at hand. The Sassanids wouldn’t be granted mercy… if they were, then they would be able to threaten the Eastern Roman Empire once more. History was clear on that front. No, the Sassanid armies needed to be comprehensively destroyed. Even if they were, the Sassanids might eventually recover, but this would hopefully ensure that they weren’t a threat for at least another generation.

Galerius sent out his scouts. They were to search Armenia and Mesopotamia for Sassanid armies. This wasn’t a surprising order. They’d been doing that for most of the year. Consistency was a good thing most of the time, though, so they weren’t complaining. They found a few armies. Upon hearing this news, Galerius knew that the war was far from over. But it was inching ever closer to ending, and that was what mattered.

Galerius then realized that it had been a few days. That was the new unofficial meeting time, although it was only unofficial because no one needed to make it official. They’d all arrive at the meeting tent around this time anyway, so making it official would require a bunch of paperwork and change absolutely nothing, which would be a waste of time.

Galerius surveyed the tent. Clementius was here, but Albinus wasn’t. Hmm, that was very unusual. It probably meant that he was earlier than usual. Albinus arrived a few minutes later. Yep, he had been earlier than usual.

“I sent out scouts,” Galerius said to begin the meeting. “They found a decently sized Sassanid army in the mountains.”

“Where in the mountains?” Clementius wondered. “I sent scouts out as well, but they encountered no army like the one that you speak of. I’m assuming your scouts simply covered a wider amount of land than mine did.”

Galerius frowned. “That’s likely true,” he began. “But, if so, what was the biggest army that your scouts discovered?”

Clementius sighed. “The largest army that my scouts found was marching towards Hasakah. There was also an army north of that. It seemed as if it was marching to unite with the army in Hasakah. They won’t unite for a few months, though, so we can cross that road when we get to it.”

Galerius frowned. He didn’t like delaying a problem, but they did have an army to deal with, and they would be in the mountains anyway, so dealing with the two Sassanid armies shouldn’t be that hard. Still, he didn’t like the situation.

“Fine, we can deal with that later,” Galerius said, grudgingly. “Anyway, Saokoros is a mountain city. We should be able to take advantage of that somehow. Oh, right.” He told his fellow commanders his plan, and they agreed.

The three Roman legions marched to the mountains. The Sassanids didn’t see their advance, and the Eastern Romans took advantage of that fact. Galerius had decided that attacking immediately was a bad idea. He knew that climbing mountains would greatly tire out his army, which would likely make any battle fought afterward more difficult to win.

The Roman archers fired upward. They didn’t kill many Sassanids, but they did succeed at pissing off the Sassanids. At first, the Sassanid commander succeeded at keeping his men in line, and the battle remained a stalemate. However, as more Sassanids fell to Roman arrows, fewer Sassanids were content to simply let the Romans attack them with impunity.

Finally, many Sassanids charged down the mountain and attacked the Eastern Roman legions. They were slaughtered, but many Sassanids didn’t fall for the Eastern Roman bait and they remained in the mountains. More Roman arrows killed Sassanid soldiers, but the Sassanids remained disciplined. Well, this was unusual. Normally, the Sassanid armies weren’t very loyal to their commanders.

Galerius knew that his plan wasn’t working. He wondered if a straight up frontal attack would work. Sure, such an attack would result in massive casualties, but the battle would be over. However, he quickly dismissed that thought. The casualties might be too great in the long run, and such a move wouldn’t help the Legio I Armeniaca’s loyalty to him - or the Eastern Roman Empire in general.

As such, neither side did anything. For weeks, Roman archers shot at the Sassanid formation, occasionally hitting them. For weeks, the Sassanids remained put. For weeks, a stalemate held.

Galerius frowned. The opposing army had almost held out for a month now. However, Galerius couldn’t see any particular reason why. Why would the Sassanids want to delay the three legions? Oh. Of course. They were trying to allow another Sassanid army to reach Hasakah, and, from there, to unite with the Sassanid army north of Hasakah. They were buying time for a last stand.

And, if that last stand happened, then the war could end in stalemate. He needed to end this battle before January In the Year of our Lord 501, or all might be lost.
Therefore, under the cover of darkness, Galerius led the Legio I Armeniaca up the mountain to Saokoros. And, with night shielding them, the commander of the Sassanid army led his best troops in a well organized retreat out of the mountains.

As the sun rose, the soldiers left behind were attacked by the Armeniaca. They were slaughtered. Another Sassanid army had been dealt with, but the war was far from over.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius frowned. There was a large Sassanid army at Hasakah, but there was also another, albeit small, Sassanid army north of there, in Armenia. Galerius knew that those two armies couldn’t be allowed to unite. If they were, the three legions could be decimated - or worse. The battle could even be lost. Galerius knew that those two Sassanid armies could not be allowed to merge under any circumstances whatsoever.

Galerius decided to go to the meeting tent almost immediately after Saokoros ended. That battle had massively delayed the three legions. Thankfully, this situation seemed to concern the other two commanders, as well, so he wasn’t just being paranoid.

“Nice of you to join us,” Clementius commented. “So, we have a problem. Two Sassanid armies are going to merge soon in Hasakah, and that could result in a disaster. We just lost most of the time we could have used to eliminate one of them. As such, what do we do?”

“Wait, aren’t the Scythia and that private army moving through Armenia?” Albinus asked.

“Yes,” Galerius said, “But they might not arrive in time to intercept the 10,000 men strong army in Armenia. Even if they did manage to intercept them, those armies only have 6000 men… so they’d be outnumbered. They could probably buy us time, but we have no guarantee that the time bought would be enough. For that matter, we have no guarantee that they’re trying to intercept the Sassanid army in Armenia. Their strategy might not be so ambitious - or it could be infinitely more ambitious. The essential problem with relying on them is that we don’t know their plans - and we can’t contact them before the battle in Hasakah starts.”

“All of that is true,” Clementius acknowledged. “But there may still be hope. Slim hope, yes, but still hope. If worst comes to worst, we can simply face them head on and hope that the battle doesn’t cripple us completely.”

Galerius started pacing around the command tent. “But we don’t want to leave that up to chance. We want to limit casualties - well, casualties on our side - as much as we can. Is there anything else we can try to keep such a hard battle from occurring?”

“Yes,” Clementius said. “Divide and conquer is the strategy that we’ve been using, and, so far, it’s been working brilliantly. The Scythia might attempt to reinforce us, but, as we’ve previously decided, we can’t rely on any forces except our own. However, we can attempt to begin the battle at Hasakah before the Sassanid army is reinforced.”

Galerius sat down. He seemed to have been slightly reassured by Clementius’s words, although we still looked worried. “Most of our soldiers are new recruits,” he muttered. “They hadn’t seen combat at all before this war began, and they’ve only fought in battles where they held a rather heavy advantage. Granted, that is our strategy for this war, but I’m worried that if they realize that they’re almost evenly matched…”

Clementius heard Galerius’s musings. “I’m pretty sure that our soldiers won’t retreat just because they’re evenly matched, my friend,” he said dryly. “They were, after all, chosen to serve in the Roman legions - which are our elite forces…”

Galerius sighed. “I know,” he said. “I’m just paranoid from…” he trailed off, but both Clementius and Albinus got the message. I’m just paranoid from Siscia. And, in all honesty, they couldn’t blame him.

“We should start actually planning what we’re going to do at Hasakah,” Clementius said. “Taking advantage of the terrain will increase our chances of winning by a large factor.”

“Yes,” Galerius agreed, grateful for the subject change. “It will. Considering that your scouts have been to Hasakah, I assume that they know some things about the terrain, and they shared this information with you.”

“Indeed,” Clementius said. “The city gets its water from a river inside of it. Actually, two rivers unite in the city. In addition, we have control of it at the moment, although that might change before we arrive. As a precaution, we should have two plans, one for if we control the city and another for if we don’t.”

“Agreed,” Galerius said.

The meeting lasted for a little while longer, as they tried to come up with plans. Although many plans were ultimately rejected, they did eventually come with two plans. Once that was done, the three legions began to march as quickly as they could to Hasakah.

The good news was that the garrison at Hasakah managed to hold out until the three legions arrived. The bad news was that the Scythia - and Anastasios’s army had decided to engage the Sassanid force at Ani… before it could reach Hasakah. The problem with that was that it meant that the Eastern Roman Empire was extremely likely to lose a legion.

Unfortunately, Galerius couldn’t worry about such things, because he had to focus on his own battle.

Galerius led the Legio I Armeniaca into Hasakah itself. The city itself looked mostly deserted - which probably meant that most of its residents had left to go to places that weren’t in an active warzone. Smart of them.

The two Isaurian legions hit the besieging army from behind. Despite this, the forces defending Hasakah finally broke. The Sassanid army began to enter the city. As such, they initially didn’t notice that they were being attacked from behind. Most of the front half of the Sassanid army entered Hasakah in triumph, but the back half ended up turning around and fighting for their lives.

The Legio I Armeniaca was positioned near the Khabur River. The Sassanids began to sack the city, but, before they could truly begin the sack in earnest, they noticed the Armeniaca. Realizing that the aforementioned army wouldn’t allow them to sack the city for a prolonged period of time, the Sassanid commander decided to outright attack Galerius’s legion. Inwardly, Galerius laughed at how stupid a decision that was.

Then, shocked, Galerius realized that only half of the Sassanid army was attacking his legion. Okay, so there apparently were impulsive people in charge of Sassanid forces. Good to know.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius filed away that information for later, however. The Sassanids knew that they could quickly escape, so they didn’t fight with all their effort. If they failed, they could always retreat. Galerius inwardly laughed about that. It was true that, at the moment, their escape route would be easy, but that wouldn’t stay the case.

Galerius dodged a Sassanid arrow as he fought. He had decided to fight on the front lines to inspire his men. Normally, he would be closer to the center of his legion, but his legion could use all the inspiration they could get in this battle. After all, the Sassanid army that they were facing here was enormous - not quite as large as the three legions combined but still large. He needed all the advantages he could get - if he had to lead from the front, then so be it. There were worse ways to die.

Of course, he wasn’t planning on dying, but he might. If he did, he would face his death with dignity. And he did miss the old days when he wasn’t in charge of an entire legion. He missed the feeling of fighting for his life, and he, therefore, was actually enjoying this. That being said, he was in charge of making sure the plan went decently well, so he had to keep an eye on the other two legions.

Thankfully, they seemed to be doing well. Most of the Sassanid army at Hasakah’s walls seemed to be in a desperate struggle for their lives. The two Isaurian legions were doing their job well. Everything was going according to plan. Galerius could only hope that things continued to go so well.

Meanwhile, he dodged arrows and defeated Sassanid soldiers who challenged him. He did whatever he had to do to stay alive. His battle had only just begun, even if the battle at Hasakah’s walls was on the verge of ending.

The fighting continued until nightfall. The night was dark, and it was a new moon. The stars were out, but they didn’t provide much light. Neither side wanted to fight when they could barely see, so they both retreated to their tents.

As Galerius awoke, he looked over at Hasakah’s walls. The Byzantine army looked as if they were busy during the night. Thousands of corpses lined the walls, and one could see some of them from miles away. Galerius decided that he wouldn’t look at the gruesome scene any longer. He was used to the sight of corpses, of course, but the walls of Hasakah looked horrifying. The good news was that the plan was still going well. The amount of deaths was still a shame, though.

The Sassanid army that had initially shied away from attacking the Legio I Armeniaca had managed to escape the city entirely. Or they’d joined the other two Sassanid forces. Whatever had happened, Galerius saw no sign of them.

By noon, the battle at the Khabur River resumed in earnest, and Galerius had to focus all of his attention on simply staying alive. The battle was far from over, but it was ending, and that was enough.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius attacked. For most of the battle, he had been on the defensive, as he was keeping an eye on the battle at Hasakah’s walls. Now, the walls were taken, and that battle was won. Relief was coming, although Galerius didn’t believe that the Legio I Armeniaca needed to be relieved, but the extra men would be able to prevent casualties, so he didn’t attempt to change the plan.

In truth, Galerius hadn’t expected either of the conflicts in Hasakah to go nearly so well. He expected the Sassanid army at the walls to fight with all of their efforts and to tie up the two Isaurian legions for weeks or even months. Also, he expected that his own legion might not fight with all their strength. Thankfully, their hate for the Sassanids seemed to outweigh any possible treasonous thoughts.

Galerius’s attacks killed many Sassanids. Soon, he realized that he was within the Sassanid center. If he pushed on, he could break the enemy center entirely. However, the battle’s result was already decided, so breaking the Sassanid center wasn’t necessary. In addition, if he did do that, then the battle could devolve into a fight where anarchy reigned. There was no guarantee that he’d survive such a move, and his death would break any organization within the Armeniaca at all. That was the only reason why he wasn’t destroying his enemy’s center. Really. It wasn’t like he feared death or anything. A soldier fearing death was an absurd idea.

Galerius pulled back. The Sassanid commander breathed a sigh of relief. His army would survive for a little while longer, even if it was only a hair’s breadth away from destruction.

Galerius saw the Sassanid commander’s expression and smirked. His relief would be very short-lived. The battle’s end was going to be soon, very soon indeed.

As the sun set, Clementius and the first Isaurian legion arrived at the back of the Sassanid army. Night fell before the Sassanids realized that they were surrounded on both sides. Once they realized that, they attempted to retreat, but Albinus, with the second Isaurian legion, had covered the Sassanid army’s flanks.

The Sassanids knew that they were doomed, but they fought anyway. Galerius wondered if their plan was to carve themselves into Eastern Rome’s collective memory by the Roman corpses that they’d leave behind.

To the Sassanid commander’s credit, he did attempt to stop the bloodshed. He challenged Galerius to one on one duel, but he was quickly defeated. The Sassanids were left without a leader, and they attempted to escape by whatever means they could. Few succeeded.

Hasakah was safe, although it was still deserted. Repairs might cost a fortune, but it was still firmly under Eastern Roman control. The three legions had succeeded in their goal, even if there was… collateral damage.

Galerius looked at the city he was in. “Okay,” he admitted to himself. “Collateral damage is a massive understatement.” And that was, indeed, true. Most of the houses were ransacked, and many valuables had been stolen. Those valuables now littered the area around the Khabur River - those that had stolen them dead. The Khabur River itself looked a darkish orange. The blood would wash out, of course, but it was still a sickening sight.

Galerius sighed. Sometimes, sacrifices had to be made in war. Speaking of which, he wondered how the battle at Ani was doing. He had basically sacrificed a legion by attacking the Sassanid army at Hasakah and not reinforcing his fellow legion. As he thought that, a messenger handed him a letter. It said two words: “The Scythia held.” Well, that was bound to be quite the story.

 

[HistoryDude]

Meanwhile, in Armenia…

Anastasios sighed. He wished to fight in battles, and, at the moment, his private army and the Legio IV Scythia were simply waiting. They were trying to ensure that no Sassanid army reached Anatolia, but most of the Sassanid armies had already been destroyed.

Now, Anastasios knew that battles weren’t won by rage alone. He knew that he had to have a strategy. His father had taught him that much. He also knew that from experience, but now was not the time to be reminiscing about past engagements. The leader of the Legio IV Scythia, Priscus, seemed like a reasonable man to Anastasios, but they hadn’t known each other for a long time, so Anastasios wasn’t going to assume anything.

Anastasios decided to send private scouts throughout all of Armenia. He doubted that they would find anything of note - the two Isaurian legions and the Legio I Armeniaca seemed to be doing extraordinarily well - but it couldn’t hurt to be certain. Knowledge was power, after all.

To Anastasios’s utter shock, his scouts did discover an army. Ten thousand men were camped in northern Armenia. Given that the three legions that were currently fighting the Sassanids seemed to be in southern Armenia, this army would probably be able to take most of northern Armenia unopposed - and, from there, to take Cherson through the Caucasus. From Cherson, they could potentially launch attacks on Pontus, Bithynia, or even Constantinople itself.

Anastasios knew that this army couldn’t be allowed to move unopposed. He decided that he would inform Priscus about it - and the threat it posed - in the morning. He might even have some ideas on what to do about it.

Morning arrived, and Anastasios informed Priscus about the army.

“Well, that’s a problem,” Priscus replied, “Why can’t we just attack them? That should keep them distracted at least.”

Anastasios sighed. “We don’t need them distracted,” he snapped. “We need them defeated. They outnumber our combined forces 5 to 3. If we attack them head on, it’s likely that we’ll get slaughtered.”

“Wait,” Priscus said. “Can’t we let the three other legions deal with it? They’ve been doing fine with literally every other Sassanid army in Armenia so far, so what makes this one different?”

“I wrote a letter to Galerius about it,” Anastasios said. “They know that it exists, but apparently large armies are present at Saokoros and Hasakah, and they’re more of a threat than this one.”

Priscus started pacing. “So, basically, we have an army that outnumbers us 5 to 3, and we can expect no aid in dealing with it in the near future,” he said. “Great. That’s absolutely fantastic.”

“Indeed,” Anastasios said. “However, we can’t just do nothing. If we do, this army could join the other Sassanid army at Hasakah. Apparently, the army at Saokoros was part of a delaying action - and it worked very well. If those two Sassanid armies merge, apparently all of our currently deployed military will be threatened. We can expect no aid from the other three legions, but there is hope…”
“What’s the silver lining?” Priscus asked, still pacing. “What are you planning? That situation sounds almost completely hopeless.”

“It is as you said before,” Anastasios said. “We probably can’t defeat this Sassanid army, but we can delay it. As long as we choose a battle where the terrain favors us, then our casualties will be minimized, and the time they need to meet up with their fellow Sassanids maximized…”

“Okay,” Priscus said, sitting down. “Where are we fighting, then?”

“I’m so glad you asked,” Anastasios responded, smiling. “Here’s the plan...”

 

[HistoryDude]

Anastasios sighed. He wasn’t certain that his plan would work perfectly, but it was the best he had. Thankfully, Anastasios knew Armenia’s terrain really well - he’d fought there before. He winced. That hadn’t been the best experience, but it was over, thankfully. He knew where the terrain would most favor his army. All he needed to do was lure the Sassanid army there.

That was easier said than done, of course, but Anastasios knew that the Sassanids wanted to destroy as many Eastern Roman armies as they could. They weren’t suicidal, of course, so they wouldn’t outright attack an army that outnumbered them as much as the three legions did. However, if they outnumbered the Eastern Romans, they’d attack in an instant. That was easy to exploit.

Anastasios, his army, and the Scythia marched as close to the Sassanid army as they could without being caught in an outright battle. Then, they moved away from it. The Sassanids gave chase. Finally, Anastasios arrived in the city of Ani. The Sassanids followed, and the trap was sprung.

Ani was protected by a ravine that was formed by a river to its east and a valley to its west. Anastasios had fought here before, so he knew it would be incredibly difficult to take. It wouldn’t be impossible to take - he’d been present when it had fallen before. However, that meant that he knew its weak spots.

As night fell, Anastasios led his army and the Scythia across the ravine. When dawn arrived, he ordered his archers to fire at the enemy camp across the ravine. The rest of the army was ordered to go into the city. This ensured that the archers were the only ones who could be killed by enemy forces. By contrast, the entire Sassanid army was exposed to the Eastern Roman archer fire.

For a few days, both sides were content with this state of affairs. Unfortunately, the Sassanid commander quickly realized that the Eastern Roman army wasn’t getting significantly harmed by his archers. Anastasios knew this from his expression, but he also knew that he didn’t have another idea, so, for now, the plan was safe.

It took a week for that to change. The Sassanid commander knew that they only needed to destroy the Eastern Roman army. That was their goal - that was why they had started this battle in the first place. They hadn’t started it to capture the city of Ani - which was a nearly impregnable fortress. It would be good if they managed to pull it off, but that was unlikely.

Anastasios noticed the lack of Sassanid soldiers. He didn’t believe that they had retreated. That was always a possibility, but the Sassanids rarely retreated before a battle was lost, or, at least, they hadn’t during that war. On that front, at least, he could commend them. But, if they hadn’t retreated, where were they?

He decided to check the areas around the city. There were no forces around Ani’s walls, but Anastasios hadn’t expected the Sassanids to have gotten close enough to besiege the city. He decided to check the western “border” of Ani. It was there that he found around half of the Sassanid army. Well, that was a problem…

 

[HistoryDude]

Anastasios sighed. He was going to have to do something about the Sassanid army to his back. He could meet with Priscus, or he could merely inform the commander of the Scythia by letter. However, given that Anastasios really wanted a second opinion about what to do, he decided that meeting with Priscus was the best option. It would also build trust between him and Priscus - and not checking with his fellow commander could set an extremely bad precedent.

Anastasios wrote to Priscus, requesting that they meet in his tent. Priscus agreed. They decided to meet at night, in case there were any Sassanid spies in Anastasios’s army - the meeting was to be completely private, meaning nobody in either army knew about it.

Anastasios’s tent was very plain. It consisted of a bed to sleep in and a table to eat on and chat with friends around.

“I expected your tent to be more… luxurious,” Priscus commented. “Regardless of such matters, why did you ask to meet here? Also, why did it have to be at night and in total secrecy?”

“My tent is similar to the tents my men have,” Anastasios said. “It shows that I am not inherently superior to them. As to why I asked to meet here, we have a problem. In addition, I wanted to keep this information from getting to the Sassanids. One can never be too careful - and there are a few Persians in my army.”

“What’s the problem, then?” Priscus asked.

“Half of the Sassanid army is to our back,” Anastasios answered. “They can’t destroy our armies yet, thankfully, but they could retreat - potentially to Hasakah, where they could unite with their fellow Sassanids and severely damage the other three legions. For that matter, both armies could reunite and retreat to Hasakah, which would make this battle all for naught.”

“That… is somewhat problematic,” Priscus admitted. “What’s your plan, then? I have a few ideas that we could use, as well. Also, why can’t we simply let the three legions be destroyed?”

“We’d be the next target after the three legions,” Anastasios pointed out. “We could hold in this city for a long time - it is an almost impregnable fortress - but we can’t hold out forever. Eventually, the Sassanids will simply accept the loss of some of their soldiers to attrition and attack us anyway - and we’d be outnumbered, then.”

“So, basically, we have to somehow delay almost 10,000 men from retreating from this city,” Priscus began. “While also ensuring that our armies aren’t destroyed. Keep in mind that we’re still outnumbered almost 5 to 3, and the Sassanids probably know that the terrain favors us now.”

“In a depressing nutshell, yes,” Anastasios admitted. “Basically, we need to keep the Sassanids engaged in a battle that they have no reason to continue fighting. We need to make the Sassanids act irrationally. Oh. That might actually work…”

“What might work?” Priscus asked. “The Sassanids will only continue fighting if they think that the odds favor them…”

“So we make them think that,” Anastasios responded, smiling. “Also, revenge is a great motivator…”

Priscus blinked. “You’ve fought the Sassanids before, I take it.”

“Yes,” Anastasios replied. “Many will want revenge on me for that…”

 

[HistoryDude]

Anastasios knew that his plan was extraordinarily risky, but, in his experience, any successful plan had to have some risk. Still, this plan would put him in direct personal danger. Of course, the Sassanids would retreat if he didn’t risk himself, so it was somewhat worth it. The Sassanid army here at Ani could not, under any circumstances, be allowed to retreat from Ani. If they did, they would likely join their comrades at Hasakah - and that could cost the Eastern Roman Empire the war.

He’d fought at Ani before - his involvement might have cost the Sassanid Empire control over most of Armenia, and he knew that some Persians were still annoyed - and angry - about that. His plan hinged on these men letting their anger get the better of them.

He took most of his army, and he moved them to Ani’s western edge. He left most of his archers with Priscus and the Scythia. The army at Ani’s eastern edge still needed to be dealt with. Of course, some archers were going to be needed for his plan to work but not many.

He and his soldiers slept through most of the day. They woke when night fell. Anastasios decided that a speech would be a good motivator. The more motivated his troops were, the more effective this plan would be.

“My soldiers,” he began. “We must delay the Sassanids. However, that does not mean that we are condemned to die here. The Sassanids heavily outnumber us, yes, but we have dealt with bad odds before. The bulk of their army is attempting to retreat to ground more favorable to them. We can’t let them. If they unite with their comrades at Hasakah, then the Eastern Roman Empire might lose the war. We cannot allow that. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” his soldiers roared back.

“Good,” Anastasios said, smiling. “Now, with night as our cover, we shall cross the valley separating us from the Sassanids. Then, we shall attack them when they awake. We aren’t dishonorable - we will let them fight back. Killing them in their sleep would be cowardly.”

The army quickly obeyed. Anastasios led his troops to the Sassanid camp. They arrived before the sun rose in the sky. Then, they waited. The Sassanids awoke slightly after dawn. Anastasios attacked.

The Sassanids were initially taken by surprise, but they had regrouped by noon. Many loathed Anastasios, and they attacked him. Anastasios had no time to do anything but fight. He fought and fought. If he put down his sword, he would die.

All Anastasios could do was stay alive. He moved to kill all of the Sassanids that attacked him. He fought on longer than he had thought possible. Dusk fell, and Anastasios was still hard-pressed on all sides. He dealt with the few remaining Persian soldiers, and, then, he collapsed.

He awoke a few days later. He was covered in wounds, but he was otherwise fine. The battle was over, and he had survived, if only just.

He walked around Ani and its surrounding area. A thousand Roman troops lay on the ground. He looked around, and he saw many other bodies. “Yes,” he realized, shocked. “We lost a thousand troops, but the Sassanids lost eight thousand troops. We most definitely won this battle.”

He went to sleep that night. Unfortunately, sleep meant dreams. Although, in this case, memories might be the more accurate term…

 

[HistoryDude]

First of all, thanks for the ratings, @Midnite Duke. Nice to know people are still reading this. Without further ado, here's the update.



In his dream, Anastasios led a small subunit of his father’s army. The dream was a memory of when Demetrius was still alive, so this made sense. Ani was a veritable fortress even back then, so the Sassanid-aligned rulers of Armenia had taken it as a place to make a stand. They had previously fought with the Sassanid army at Erebuni, but that had been a catastrophic defeat for the Sassanids, and the Armenian clans knew that the Sassanid remnants were being chased by the Eastern Roman army.

Emperor Zeno - actually, Anastasios suspected that it had been one of his advisors, given Zeno’s well-known slothfulness - had hired Demetrius’s army to pacify Armenia. The rulers of Armenia had gotten wind of this, and that was why Ani was the spot they were defending. No one wanted to face Demetrius - especially given his reputation as the Love(r) of Death.

Demetrius knew that his heir needed slightly more training - the campaigns in the north had made that somewhat clear, although Anastasios had gotten better during those. As such, he had entrusted command of half of his army to Anastasios.

Demetrius had told him that taking Ani through force alone would be next to impossible. Their plan would rely partially on trickery. Ani was then ruled by the Kamsarakan dynasty - a dynasty that traced their lineage back to when the Arsacids ruled Persia. However, Armenia was divided between numerous dynasties under loose Sassanid sovereignty. That could be exploited easily, according to his father.

The plan boiled down to exploiting these divisions. The main division was between the houses of Kamsarakan and the marzbans of Armenia - who were technically the house of Kamsarakan’s lords. There were other divisions, though, and Demetrius wanted to exploit these.

The plan was to ask, and, if necessary, bribe a few Christian Armenian nobles to abandon Ani and refuse to fight the Eastern Romans at all. In addition, Demetrius’s main army would cross the road through the Tzaghkotzadzor Valley. This would be done in broad daylight, but the portion of the army Anastasios commanded would cross and reinforce them as night fell.

Anastasios asked why, and Demetrius responded that this would ensure that they had the element of surprise. Anastasios pointed out that it would also mean that their army would be tired, which would mean they wouldn’t fight well, which would likely lead to their defeat.

Demetrius considered this, and he’d complimented how much Anastasios had learned from the other campaigns. Anastasios had grimaced at the reminder - the other campaigns didn’t have very good memories associated with them.

Demetrius pointed out that they couldn’t simply surround the city - the ravine on the eastern side had no roads or paths that they could use to cross it. However, certain Christian Armenian princes could perhaps be convinced to betray the Sassanid Empire.
That plan worked surprisingly well. Many Armenian princes had betrayed the united cause. This distracted the Sassanid Armenian army from noticing the army approaching Ani from the west. Anastasios was given command over the right flank of this army, and the army managed to destroy the Armenian army without much trouble.

Ani opened its gates rather than attempt to withstand a siege, and so Demetrius was merciful to it. Most of the Christian Armenian princes had perished during the battle, so Armenia was left without much government. Anastasios saw all of this as an uninterested observer might - but he was proud of his tactics during that battle, even within his subconscious.

Anastasios awoke. He figured that he must’ve remembered that battle because it had also occurred at Ani. Perhaps his pride had something to do with it, also. Regardless, he needed to move - the war wasn’t done yet.

 

[HistoryDude]

Meanwhile, with the three legions…

Galerius cursed. He had just received news of where the largest remaining Sassanid army was. The problem was that he’d already fought a battle there. That meant that he probably couldn’t make a specialized plan - the Sassanids might guess it from what had occurred during the first battle of Hykaberd. However, he also didn’t like the idea of going in without a plan.

He sighed. He’d discuss this with his fellow commanders. If none of them had an idea of what to do, well, then they would have to rely on numbers alone. Of course, that was a last resort only.

The tent was already occupied by both Clementius and Albinus when he arrived there. Clementius looked worried, which wasn’t a good sign. Galerius couldn’t tell how Albinus felt.

“So,” Galerius began. “The nearest Sassanid army is in Haykaberd. Again. What is our plan for dealing with them? Reusing plans probably isn’t a good idea, as the Persians might remember the strategy we used last time. Which means we can’t reuse it.”

“All of that is true,” Clementius said. “I don’t know what a good plan would be. Maybe we could simply engage on Haykaberd’s plains and hope our numbers carry the day? I really don’t have another idea.” He got up and started pacing. “I hate relying on numerical superiority, though, so…”

“You have no clue what to do,” Albinus finished. Galerius sat up, startled. Albinus didn’t usually speak much. Although he might have a plan… well, Galerius figured he could just ask.

“I don’t suppose you have a plan,” Galerius asked, dejected. “So far, ‘rely on numerical superiority’ seems like the best idea we have. Which is bad because that is a terrible idea.”

Albinus sighed. “I do have a plan other than relying on numerical superiority. Not sure if it’s a good plan…”

“Anything is better than our working plan,” Clementius said. “Tell us your idea.”
“Well,” Albinus began. “We can’t trick them into running into the valley to their deaths, as we did the first time. Honestly, I’m surprised that it worked once. A direct attack is never the best plan, though.”

“You’ve said what we shouldn’t do,” Clementius pointed out. “But what should we do?”

Albinus smiled. Galerius didn’t know what to make of that smile. He had absolutely no clue what Albinus was thinking. “We do something they would never expect.” Galerius blinked. What was that supposed to mean?

Clementius voiced Galerius’s thoughts. “What’s that mean?” he asked. “Are you suggesting we do, in fact, do a frontal assault or reuse our old plan? Just because they aren’t expecting it doesn’t make it a better plan.”

Galerius rolled his eyes. “No,” he said. “They’re expecting us to do what we did before. Instead, we should have our archers shoot the opposing army from within the city. The fortifications should protect them - but they’ll allow them to attack the Sassanids.”

“Hmm,” Galerius mused. “That could work. But won’t the Sassanids try to cross the walls anyway? It’s not like the walls are impregnable. They can be destroyed - or bypassed.”

“They probably will,” Albinus admitted. “I do have a plan for that, though.”

“What is it?” Galerius wondered.

Albinus’s smile sent chills through Galerius’s spine.

 

[HistoryDude]

Galerius knew that Albinus’s plan was risky, but it was still better than the other plans that they’d come up with. That didn’t make Galerius any less worried about the upcoming battle. He really didn’t like risk - the last time his legion had taken a risk, it had almost completely destroyed itself. Granted, this plan wasn’t betrayal, but still.

Unfortunately, the lack of a better plan meant that Galerius was going to have to deal with the risk - he didn’t have much of another choice. Besides, if things went wrong, he could always rely on sheer numbers. That would result in massive casualties, yes, but it would still end in victory - any hope of outright Sassanid victory had been destroyed at Hasakah - and Ani, although Galerius still didn’t know what had happened there. He’d be fine.

Galerius decided that the best course of action would be to simply not think about the upcoming battle. That seemed to calm his mind.

Finally, the three legions arrived at Hasakah. They saw the Sassanid army besieging the city, and Galerius realized something. They had no obvious way to enter the city. He asked Albinus how they were going to enter the city.

Albinus simply replied that the Sassanids were simply attempting a frontal assault on the city. All they had to do was enter the city from the side that wasn’t under siege. Galerius frowned. There were many things that could go wrong with that approach. Thankfully, few of them had a chance of succeeding.

They managed to get into the city without problems. The archers were positioned behind the city’s walls, as Albinus had planned. The Sassanids were harried with arrows, and, for a while, they didn’t attempt to fight back.

Unfortunately, the Sassanid commander was somewhat intelligent, apparently. The Sassanids doubled their efforts to enter Hasakah. Idly, Galerius wondered who was commanding them.

Albinus smiled, and Galerius realized, startled, that he’d wanted the Sassanids to attempt to take the walls - his plan subtly encouraged that, but Galerius hadn’t realized that it had been designed. Galerius looked to Clementius - and his frown told Galerius that they’d been thinking similar thoughts. That might prove problematic.

However, for now, at least, they had a common enemy, if not similar tactics. They couldn’t afford to lose the support of the Second Isaurian Legion - despite what they thought about its commander’s tactics. Additionally, said tactics might prove effective. Galerius reassured himself that he’d be fine, but he still didn’t quite believe it.

Regardless of Galerius’s feelings on the matter, the Sassanids were attempting to take Hasakah, and Albinus had baited them into trying to do so quicker. Galerius would just have to deal with that.

As night fell, Galerius looked over to the Second Isaurian Legion’s campsite. Their fires were lit, which meant that they were obeying their commander’s plan. Galerius supposed that that was good. It meant that they had a high chance of winning the battle, anyway, at least if everything went according to plan.

Of course, Galerius had his own doubts about the plan. After all, surrounding your enemy - or attempting to - only worked if they didn’t know your plan, and Galerius wasn’t certain that the Sassanids didn’t have people that could deduce this plan.

 

[HistoryDude]

At first, it seemed as though Galerius was wrong. The Sassanids continued to get injured or even killed in mass numbers from the Eastern Roman arrows that were fired from within Haykaberd. None of them showed any sign of knowing about the legion that was sneaking up on them from behind.

Now, that would normally be reassuring, but Galerius knew that someone should have noticed how few arrows were actually being fired. There were numerous signs that the Eastern Romans were either a) planning a sneak attack or b) running out of arrows. The Sassanids should’ve noticed that. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to be doing so.

Unfortunately, Galerius’s paranoia proved prophetic. Half the Sassanid army moved to attack the Second Isaurian Legion. That meant that the Sassanids almost certainly had spies within the Eastern Roman army. Of course, Galerius had long suspected that this was the case, but this was his first piece of concrete proof to back up his theory.

However, Galerius was in the middle of a battle - or, perhaps more accurately, a siege. He should probably focus on that before he dealt with possible spies.

He looked at the area outside of Haykaberd. The Sassanid army that was besieging the city was still taking casualties from the two legions that had remained in the city. Unfortunately, the actual direct fighting seemed to be a stalemate at the moment. That meant that the Eastern Romans had a tactical advantage - barely.

Galerius sighed. In all honesty, he would’ve preferred to sleep, but Albinus had been smart enough to have a backup plan - actually, Galerius supposed it was possible that he might’ve had multiple backup plans, but, if he did, he hadn’t shared them with either Clementius or Galerius. Honestly, some things were best done by improvisation. Accounting for all variables would simply take far to long.

Regardless, if the plan failed to take the Sassanids by surprise, the Legio I Armeniaca was to be the Second Isaurian Legion’s reinforcements, but only if the Second Isaurian Legion was clearly losing. So far, the battle outside the walls seemed like it was a stalemate, but a lot of things could change during a single night. As such, he pretty much had to stay up - he’d need to be able to save the Second Isaurian Legion if they… happened to be in need of rescue.

Despite all of that, he wasn’t an overly cruel commander. He knew that the status quo outside of Haykaberd’s walls was unlikely to change during a single night, if only because, well, all armies got tired eventually. That meant that he could allow his troops to sleep. He told them that they should sleep light, just in case.

As it turned out, these precautions were unnecessary. It seemed as if neither side wanted to fight during the night. Galerius saw that both forces had retired to his camps. After checking to make sure that this wasn’t an attempted ruse by either side - which was unlikely, but all possibilities needed to be considered. Once he’d clarified that both sides actually had temporarily stopped their battle, he entered his tent and went to sleep. Mercifully, he had no dreams.