Arrix85: Amida is part of the Roman Empire. I apologize for not noticing that on your first map; I know I've been vague about the exact borders.
1602: The Roman advance has been slow, cautious, and methodical, but attended everywhere by victory. The old battlegrounds of Ras al-Ayn and al-Hasakah have both been taken. While the town of Ras al-Ayn survives the conquest, the village of al-Hasakah, smaller, poorer, and more shameful, is wiped off the face of the map.
Although emotionally satisfying, these are minor tokens. The major citadel of Mardin has fallen after a hard-fought siege but with Stefanos Monomakos in command the issue was in little doubt. The ancient towns of Dara and Nisibis, who have seen these sights many times before but now far declined from their heights a thousand years ago, are also taken. Of little consequence strategically, Theodora’s prose takes a shine in her account of these venerable sites once more paying homage to Constantinople.
Lacking antiquarian grandeur but far more important on the ground is the capture of Duhok, a ‘pretty little sapphire in the crown of the Shah’. The Army of Amida marches with pride, its banners emblazoned with the battle honors of Bitlis, Mardin, and Duhok. The three great victories won in the last campaign have been won by their arms. (The return of the eagle standards in an antiquarian phase at the beginning of Helena’s reign have been disbanded, the army returning to the traditional banners.)
These are no mean achievements, but it is hoped that these are only the prelude of far greater things. The War Room has its sights on a prize greater than all those taken thus far combined. Duhok may be a ‘pretty little sapphire’ but Mosul is a dazzling diamond. It is the fifth largest city in the Ottoman Empire, thirty five thousand souls, behind only Baghdad, Hamadan, Rayy, and Basra. (Incidentally the fifth largest city in the Roman Empire is Nicaea which has double Mosul’s population.)
The food situation has improved in northern Syria and eastern Anatolia. Improved local harvests help significantly, the War Room has worked out some snags that had hampered imports from Thrakesia such as a staggeringly inadequate quantity of hoops and barrel staves, and quantities of Egyptian grain are now available. The result is that the War Room is feeling ambitious on a scale unimaginable just three years earlier.
Considering the improved logistics the War Room commits the Optimatic and Macedonian tagmata to offensive operations as well, designated the Army of the Euphrates. The plan is for four separate armies (one Macedonian tourma is detached and assigned to Aleppo, Edessa, and Amida each to even the sizes out) to broadly sweep down Mesopotamia, flattening all opposition.
While the Ottomans can bring to bear armies far larger than any of the four armies individually the Roman forces are large enough to handle themselves on the defensive quite well and they are close enough for mutual support. The arrangement is similar to the Roman advance into Mesopotamia during the War for Asia but the logistics here are significantly better. Barges are assembled to transport supplies down the twin rivers and all the armies are amply equipped with bridging equipment.
In support of the main body are militia contingents to secure supply lines, bridges, and fortifications, drawn both from the Orthodox troops of northern Syria and Cilicia and the ‘armed minorities’ of Lebanon. The Anizzah are there in force as well, both herding the vast flocks of sheep that follow Roman armies and working as forward scouts. The herds are a frequent Roman method of securing fresh provisions that has the advantage of some mobility. They are also useful, in the event of a reverse, in distracting ill-disciplined enemy troops in search of plunder.
It is a very formidable force and it is not alone. Now that the Romans are on the offensive Stefanoz also moves to the attack, thirty thousand Georgian troops fording the River Aras. To the east an immense Cossack host, the largest assembled to date, has taken to the boats. Crossing the Caspian to Baku where they link up with Georgian reinforcements, they fall upon lush Mazandaran, the ‘garden of the Shahs’.
The Ethiopians have, on paper, been at war with the Ottomans for some time now but the historian is hard pressed to find any mention of actual fighting. This is partly due to Ethiopian exhaustion, the need to rebuild their armed forces, and to put down any lingering inclinations to revolt. Tewodros has broken up the old kingdom of Majerteen into six separate provinces whose governors report directly to him. Even the loyal neguses are unnerved by this as it sets a precedent for dismantling their own positions.
The other reason is that it is extremely difficult to attack the Persian Gulf when one is basing out of Zeila or Surat. Although the Omani were willing to act against their Yemeni rivals, the Ottomans are a different matter. This is not because the Omani care for the Ottomans more. They have more than once laid their covetous eyes on Muscat itself, Bahrain has traded hands at least a half dozen times since the mid-1300s, and the Wilayah of Hormuz is viewed as an intolerable affront in the halls of Persia.
However at this time Shahanshah Iskandar is being hailed as the champion of Islam, an appellation the Yemeni, with their habit of overcharging hajj pilgrims, never gained. To openly side with the desecrators of Mecca against the victor of al-Hasakah would bring upon the Omani the opprobrium of the entire Muslim world, which naturally gives them pause.
That said on a purely political level the Romans and Ethiopians seem to be far better allies than any other the Omani can gain, and the former is the only potential counter to the Ottomans. That is the factor that wins out now that the Omani fleet has been completely revamped. Although the five galleons are on the smaller side by European standards, the thirty seven new fregatai make for an extremely potent fighting force. With such a fleet Oman is the number three naval power in the western Indian Ocean after the Portuguese and Romans (Vijayanagar is number 4 but mainly active in the east, the Dutch and Triune fleets now trading in the ports of western India make for numbers 5 and 6) and her forces are more concentrated.
The Omani enter the fray with a fierce attack on Bahrein, whose garrison falls in eight days although not without inflicting serious losses on its assailants. Reinforced by twenty Ethiopian and Roman warships, the Persians towns of Bandar Ganaveh, Delvar, and Asaluyeh are all taken and sacked. Unfortunately these settlements are of no economic or military value while the cities of Bushehr and Gamrun (OTL Bandar Abbas) beat off their attacks. The failure to seize Gamrun, strategically situated next to the island Wilayah of Hormuz, is a discouraging blow to the Omani.
It is not the only failure of the coalition. Iskandar has been laid up in his capital with a serious fever but news on the assault nevertheless rouses him from his sickbed. Commanding his army, outnumbered almost three to one, from a litter, he “astounds the world by his audacity”, in the words of Leo Neokastrites, by launching an assault on the Cossack host at Juybar. Outmaneuvered and surprised the Cossacks are overrun and utterly defeated, the Host crippled for at least a generation to the discomfort of the Megas Rigas, who would sorely need that military strength.
In the western Mediterranean, progress against the Barbary corsairs is painfully slow. At sea the Roman fleet is operating in force, however the bulk including the great ships are basing out of Trapani, Malta, and Carthage, too distant to be of much use off the hostile and rugged coast of Algeria. Smaller squadrons operating from Tabarka and Minorca, leasing dock space from the Hospitaliers, are more effective, but limited by numbers and the difficulty of maintaining supplies, particularly at Tabarka, which geographically is by far the most useful base.
The difficulties at sea are mirrored by those on land. Coastal conquests are garrisoned largely by Sicilian and Carthaginian troops, with Sicilians making up about three-quarters. A few Sicilian tourmai also operate in the field with the Roman troops. The Sicilians are highly welcome reinforcements, with their tourmai comparable in quality to Roman formations, albeit with a much smaller artillery support.
Nevertheless the Romans are vastly outnumbered and no troops can be spared from the Persian front. The rugged terrain and extremely limited transport capabilities limits Roman forays to the coast with the result that enemy resources in the interior are left untouched and unmolested. Furthermore there is a strong feeling amongst the soldiers and many of the officers that the offensive in North Africa has no coherent plan or goal, that it is just ‘doing something for the sake of doing something’. It is painfully inadequate to subdue the whole Barbary Coast, or even a respectable fraction. Naturally this does not encourage them.
The Berbers are not the only foes of Rhomania in these parts. The directives to seize Triune merchantmen in reprisal for Guernsey are still in effect. Henry, who did not take kindly to the threat, authorized his own ships to attack Roman ships in the Atlantic and western Mediterranean. This was not as serious as it sounded. After all Guernsey had been caused by Triune pirates attacking Roman ships without permission. Theodora sarcastically but accurately describes it as ‘the Triune port officials no longer have to frown before clearing the prizes when they are brought into harbor’.
The result has been an intermittent quasi-war between the Romans and Triunes. Merchantmen have attacked merchantmen and warships have attacked merchantmen but thus far there have been no warship vs. warship actions. Furthermore only a small fraction of encounters, perhaps a fifth, have escalated into hostilities. Most times both parties prefer to continue on their ordinary business.
That is not the case on August 9th. The Roman fregata Clio is cruising off Monaco, awaiting an expected convoy. At 11:00 it appears on the horizon, four large galleons, and the Clio immediately makes for the attack. Her captain, Alexios Thaumaturgos, has been one of the most successful fregata captains in the Roman navy, responsible for capturing or destroying ten corsair and seven Triune ships. He plans to grab another ship or two and then repair to Messina. The Sicilians have a dry dock there and Clio’s bottom is overdue for a cleaning.
However the convoy is escorted by the Sparrowhawk, a new frigate captained by Thomas Stott. It is a fine vessel, with six more cannons than Clio, eighteen-pounders to Clio’s fourteen-pounders, and sporting the new innovation of a ship’s wheel, making her much easier to maneuver. One of the Triune galleons masked the Sparrowhawk from the Clio on her approach but soon Thomas pulls ahead to engage the Clio.
Recognizing the superiority of his opponent, Alexios turns about and attempts to flee. The Triune however has the advantage in speed as well as armament and gradually begins to overtake the Roman, and it is a clear day with no squalls to hide the Clio. At about 1410 Alexios shouts his famous order, “I’m not going to get run down by an Englishman! Hard to port!”
Calling his opponent an Englishman is not a rhetorical flourish on Alexios’s part. The stereotype is that the French comprise the Triune Army and the English the navy. That is not completely true but close, as three-quarters of the Army is French and three-quarters of the Navy English. Furthermore units, based on territorial districts, and ships, largely recruited from the seamen of a particular district, are often wholly English or French. It is the same for the Irish, who mainly join the army. The Sparrowhawk is one of the wholly English ships.
Thomas is surprised by Alexios’s move but quickly recovers, turning so that the battle develops into a broadside gunnery duel. The battle between the Clio and the Sparrowhawk, fought with broadside cannons which roll back on the recoil to be reloaded within a few minutes, is the new face of naval warfare. The Sparrowhawk quickly gains the advantage but the Clio is not about to go down cheaply, hammering the frigate’s hull while snipers posted in the rigging cut down everyone in sight.
Whether intentionally or accidentally, the Clio hauls over a couple of points and slams into the side of the Sparrowhawk, both sides boarding. The Englishmen have a significant advantage in numbers but that helps the Roman grenades to reap a fruitful harvest. Sharks converge on the scene as blood flows down into the water, attacking everyone unfortunately enough to fall.
Finally the English gain the upper hand and Lieutenant William Rye, of the 2nd Yorkshire Tour of Foot, posted on the ship as marines, demands the surrender of Alexios. The dialogue, in Mare (a mix of Greek, some Italian dialects, Provencal, Catalan, and Algerian, the lingua franca of Mediterranean mariners), is as follows:
William: I must ask for your surrender, sir, to stem this effusion of blood.
Alexios: I am not at liberty to do that.
William: Sir, I am afraid I must insist.
Alexios: This ship was given to me by the Empress. It is not in my power to give it up to another.
William: I understand, sir. May God grant you peace.
Alexios: Thank you, my good man.
A moment later William shoots Alexios dead. A few minutes after that the rest of the Romans surrender. Casualties on both sides have been enormous, about half of the Romans and two-fifths of the English. Once the wounded have been taken care of to the best of the abilities of both the English and Roman surgeons and the sharks driven off with musket fire, the dead of both sides are buried with full military honors.
The Sparrowhawk with her captives and the Clio limp into Monaco, where the OoB agent in the Grimaldi court immediately sends word to Trapani. Unfortunately for the Romans the three fregatai sent to blockade the harbor are two days late and Thomas Stott makes a clean getaway.
The Triunes take pride in their victory, but the Romans too are not dismayed. The valor and skill with which the crew of the Clio fought and the irreproachable conduct of her captain cannot be looked upon with shame. Emperor Henry himself pays tribute to Alexios, calling him “a great man, who did not hesitate to do his duty to the utmost and to ensure the honor and dignity of his sovereign.” The Romans have lost a ship but they have gained a hero. It is not a bad trade in the eyes of many.
