Chapter 8: The Hammer
August, 999
They decided to leave the capital alone, to my relief, and have assembled their army in Milano. I have taken all the time I can to wait, but the treasury will soon run dry if I don’t attack here. Our forces are even in number and the terrain is flat – this battle will be decided by pure strength.
> October
The battle was absolutely immense – one for the legends. At first, it seemed we were slowly being overpowered, but a decisive flank by a small mercenary force managed to fracture the enemy line, and eventually the entire army broke!
Losses were roughly even on both sides, but we managed to push them out, and I will chase down what remains. Apparently the Caliph himself left prior to the battle – robbing us of the chance to gut the coward on our own land.
> December
We fought them in Noli once again – the retreating army linked up with a small band of reinforcements to try and hold the occupied lands. We were victorious once again, but the losses were also roughly equal once again. We managed to capture the head of a mercenary band hired by the Dyamarians – though I wanted to get rid of the talented man, the fact is that these mercenaries have heavy pockets, and we are in dire need of money for this campaign.
February, 1000
I’ve been harassing the remaining enemy army in the west, not engaging them in a battle that would favor them, but instead forcing them to deal with starvation as they march back and forth through hostile lands.
> April
The harassing strategy worked perfectly – they were forced to march past the Alps and into the old capital of Piemonte. We now outnumber the Dyamarians two to one, and the battle will begin soon.
> June
We kicked them out of Piemonte, and captured two of their generals in the process. The more prominent man was ransomed away, as he apparently holds a lot of land somewhere within the Empire, while I decided to have revenge on the lesser one and execute him at the same site under Ishu’s great statue that the old King had used for so many similar celebrations in his era.
> August
We chased them down and managed to do some heavy damage to what remained of their army – this time, the Caliph actually was present, but he escaped. I’m going to keep chasing down what remains until this invading army is ground to dust.
February, 1001
The war is winding down, with no major Dyamarian armies to be seen. I’ve sent most of the mercenaries home and marched west to help the armies of Musnia and Burgundy push into the Empire’s holdings in Iberia.
> March
A massive plague spreads through Italy and beyond, and I’ve lost my wife to Gout as well. The march west continues for us, far from the trouble at home.
> May
Together, our armies besiege Almeria, seat of the Caliph himself. We will rob this land into ruin for all they have put us through – after such a hellish campaign these last five years, this will be only a sliver of the punishment the Empire deserves.
> November
The pillaging of Almeria is almost complete, and the Caliph has agreed to surrender. I will wait on his offer until we are fully finished devastating the city, and then finally this enormous conflict will be over.
I may admit now that when the Empire declared war on Zicenia, I expected we may face the end. My focus was always on seizing any advantage we could, and dragging out the war to be as slow and costly for the Caliph as possible, but it seemed unlikely at the start that we could hold out against such an enormous empire. Ultimately, it was thanks to the involvement of the other Siorach Europeans that we were able to hold them off, even though Musnia was delayed by a civil war and Vazdistan was weakened after having just ended one.
Our destruction was close enough that it leaves me concerned for the future – the fact is that the Dyamarian Empire will always be a threat to our Kingdom that could strike at any time, unless they fracture at some point. For the rest of my reign, and hopefully that of my descendants who read this account, I will keep a close watch on the Empire and look for any sign of weakness – any opportunity we can take to cut the Empire down, particularly if it involves retaking Sardinia, must be taken for the sake of our own survival.
Additionally, Zicenia must continue to grow so that it may be able to sustain itself against the many great threats that may face us – it is very plausible that were it not for my conquests earlier, we wouldn’t have had the strength to even hold off the Empire as long as we did before convincing the other Europeans to join us.
Stabilization
Unfortunately, even at this point our troubles aren’t completely over – I’ve learned that the demon-child of Ishu, Taddai, wants to raise an army and take control of the Kingdom. I am not a religious man, but that boy is terrifying.
The stories of his behavior as an infant when I served as Marshal were offputting enough, but what I hear about the man now is even worse – they say he acts as if possessed, and exerts such unnatural ability in everything he does.
With the enormous sum of money I’ll receive from the Caliph, we should be able to hold him off; I’m not sure how many men he’ll be able to muster, but our army is full of veterans and we have been recovering our lost numbers over the last year since the major battles died down.
I am going to use the funds from the Caliph to construct an enormous monument to our victory in this epic conflict at the site of so many battles in Noli – this war should never be forgotten. But I will hold off on that, so I may first deal with this demon of a man and put him down.
October, 1002
The great breakout of Smallpox, though winding down, has managed to infect me upon my return to the capital.
November, 1003
The invasion force from Taddai is finally arriving, and unfortunately after all this time I am still not well enough to lead the army. Several of our generals from the Dyamarian war have fallen to the disease as well, though there are plenty of skilled veterans to replace them.
January, 1004
The army has definitely recovered in size since then, and though Taddai commands an impressively large force for an unlanded man, he will be no match for our army. I wish I was able to lead this battle myself, but my men are masters of warfare by this point.
May, 1004
Taddai’s army was defeated in battle and eventually chased down, and the man himself is captured. I’ve moved to execute him immediately – this man is far too dangerous to be left living in this world. Several of the vassals and councilors have objected to the execution of Ishu’s final son after already being imprisoned, but I can’t allow this man to live.
With that threat defeated, I have finally ordered the construction of our great monument – a massive mausoleum at the battle site in Noli, for all the dead Zicenians who managed to save our Kingdom from destruction against such a massive foe. This should be a good enough reminder of just how dangerous this Caliphate is to our Kingdom, and it will be an honor to be buried among all the men who fought with me to save our people.
Historian’s Notes: The Dyamarian Empire was defeated after 7 years of war. Several invasions by land and sea, several massive battles, and ultimately the complete sacking of Almeria had led to the massive Empire’s surrender and payout of gold to King Shahlufa, as well as the permanent abandonment of the city by the Dyamarian court. This war had a profound effect on both sides, ultimately ending with a plague that would kill many on both sides of the Mediterranean and weaken Shahlufa himself, forcing the man to finally step back from the head of the army.
Very little is known about the exploits of the infamous Taddai – only that he arrived with an army in Central Italy intent on taking the throne before being defeated and executed. The boy’s life was an oddity and many murders have been attributed to him across his 21 years of life, though the actual details were lost to history.
With these threats dealt with and the enormous sum of gold gained at the end of the Dyamarian invasion, Zicenia managed to remain in a stable position despite its massive expenditure of money and men throughout the war.
