Crusader Kings 2 - The Road of Queens
Chapter Seven Hundred-Thirty-Three : Battle Of Gela
Host In Retreat
This chapter opens in January, of the year 918 AD, with the Basileus waiting for the Army to catch up with the Host. The Host seemed to be fleeing west and was likely going to try to hide within the Realm of Guge.
In fact, by February, not only did the Host enter Guge but it started looting the County of Zhongba. The Army was ordered to march in to the “rescue” the local populace. How could the Great King of Guge be upset with the Empire if the Army came to HELP their citizens in danger from the Raiders?
The Basileus was a TAD worried. The numbers were a little too even for his tastes. He preferred to have at least three times the soldiers of the enemy. But he felt calling up the Imperial Levies JUST for one Host was overkill and, more importantly, a waste of coin.
While he waited for a report on the clash within his simple cell he was given some good news. The Arahnat Indranarayan notified the Basileus that the Society was pleased with his progress and that his mission had come to an end. The seclusion was no longer needed!
The Basileus was so happy and so full of energy that he decided to Convert his County of Bikrampur, which was Hindu, to Buddhism. With the help of the Savaka-Sangha of course.
And it worked! One more County was now on the Path of the True Faith. This did increase the chance of Revolt SLIGHTLY. But there was always going to be a few bad apples in the barrel. Nothing you could do about that.
Then, in late February, the Basileus was told some bad news. Seems a Commander had gone missing again. Not just any Commander, but Commander Eugenios, who had been in charge of one of the flanks of the Army! So a new Commander needed to be selected and also a Commander needed to be sent to command the flank! The man at the top of the list of available soldiers was Ioustinos, the Mayor of Reting, who was very skilled at the Arts of War. He was selected as a NEW Commander.
Then he was tossed onto a fast horse and sent to join the Army. He was escorted by Imperial Guard Cavalry and was given a fresh mount at the villages and castles along the way. It is said he made it to the marching Army on the very day he was handed his commission but that seems unlikely.
In March, as he waited for news from the war, the Basileus felt himself becoming a better Buddhist and becoming Content with his place in the world.
A few days later a rider came with a letter - the Army had finally caught up with the Host. The idiots had been too busy looting to flee. Or maybe they felt the mountains would give them an advantage?
Mountains, sadly for the Raiders, don’t protect you from arrows shot by Archers or spears thrown from horseback. The Host only had half the missile troops the Imperials did and NO Cavalry. First one of the Host’s flanks collapsed and then the other collapsed.
The center of the Host HAD been doing well but without the flanks it was encircled and outnumbered. Soon it collapsed and out came the Imperial Cavalry to give chase. Not the BEST tactic really, horses don’t do well in mountains or forests, but the enemy was already on the run at this point and were unlikely to put up a fight. In fact one part of the enemy Host had already fled the battlefield! Soon the other flank fled and only the center was left. And it was already falling apart.
Soon it too fled the battlefield and the Battle of Gela was declared a victory. Not a MAJOR victory as the numbers of casualties reported from both sides was a little too close. The Imperials had lost 206 men, mostly Archers, while the Host had lost 349 men, also mostly Archers.
“Hmmmm,” was all the Basileus said when reading the report. It was unlikely he was pleased with the final numbers. He wanted the Host defeated. But it looked like the Commanders on the field were going to have to play cat-and-mouse with this bunch.
So we end this chapter with a victory but not a major one and a Emperor worried about his Archers.