Emperor Manuel the first stood in the very same throne room as his grandfather and laughed at the messenger before him. 'A horde of dog headed hell-beasts? PAH That is no more than a fairy tale
The messenger, though in truth he was not a mere messenger in the normal sense, left before the king's mood descended into alcohol and violence, and it so-often did. His task was completed, what little use it had been. From birth he had been raised on the stories, on the legends of his father, and his father before him. Always they told of a horde of warriors to the east, some described them as demons, some as demonic beasts, some as dog-headed, some with the bodies of horses, but always from the east.
The Emperor looked around his court and frowned. The Lord Chamberlain was watching him carefully, as he had watched his father before him. It had only been through the Chamberlains insistence that the fortifications in the east had not been sold off for scrap many years ago. Andronicus had heard the warning, and dismissed it as scare-mongery. Manuel, who by all accounts was not a courageous leader, nor at home with books and finances, favored instead his drink, and the women, though since his succession a mere 2 years ago he was still yet to choose a wife.
The Third crusade had not been unexpected, the first, by the French, had fallen to a cunning ambush in Naples and never reached Constantinople's fertile lands. Some 2,000 hardened warriors fought for days to repel the attacks of the 5,000 strong crusade, and when the survivors, battered and bleeding, had turned to flee that found their retreat cut off by a further thousand. All were slain, and the hopes of the French were dashed.
The second, again by the French had also set itself the high goal of Constantinople, and charged upon Croatia with reckless abandon, only for half it's men to be cut down before reaching the sea. With massive losses the crusade retreated, and slowly withered away as it's leader tried many, many times to charge upon the byzantine defenses, only for the men to refuse to fight against such odds, and such reckless hate.
The Third crusade, this time launched by the Spanish, but encompassing many French, German and even polish troops set out bravely in 1228, the very same year Emperor Manuel came to the throne, claiming it over many older, more Worthy men by claim of blood. He was the eldest of the two sons of Emperor Adnronicus, and both were not brave men, despite the elder sons of Andronicus' father being brave, noble and generous men, they were denied the throne.
But the third crusade marked more than the coming of Christians, the seer had specified in the time of the third crusade, and, fool though he was, Manuel could not completely ignore the warning, given nearly 80 years ago.
With the Lord chamberlains urging a modest Garrison was sent to Khazar, to station themselves in the mighty fortress finished only 4 years previously. A much larger force was also sent, to scatter itself into the surrounding lands. The seer had been vague with the location, but always 'to the east'. The last effort of the Chamberlain was bold, and against his emperors knowledge. Though not a fighting man by all accounts he gathered several thousand troops, under commanders who were less than friendly toward the emperor, and he himself stationed in Kiev, to watch the river and hold it at all costs.
The third crusade moved on, slowly, gathering forces all the while, and the Emperors laughs grew more and louder as there was no sign of an army of fiends, but still the Chamberlain remained vigilant, and, after three years of waiting a cry came out from the lookout in Khazar. 'Their coming To many to count Their coming from the east'. The Emperor was alerted at once, but he insisted on seeing the force for himself, and thanks to his royal foolishness he was many years journey from the battlefield, leaving the chamberlain to conduct things at his leisure.
'Retreat' The call sounded out, 'Retreat to the castle' for though the scouts reported more than was countable, the Chamberlain was a man to who numbers were no mystery and he surveyed the fast approaching horde. More than twenty thousand men, most atop horse, and all set to strike down any in their path. The cry came also from Georgia, the thousand men stationed there trembling at the thought of facing more than 5,000 men, with no reinforcements to save them.
And so the horde plunged on toward Georgia, and the men held firm, despite the tales of no mercy that surrounded the hordes relentless approach, and when the battle was joined the Byzantine varengian guard held firm, cleaving down hordes of heavy cavalry with their axes. The recently discovered arbalests proved their worth with every bolt loosed, slaying hundreds of men before the cavalry reached our lines. The sky grew black with arrows from the horde and though they sheltered beneath shields many men were cut down. The first wave fell back before the relentless axes, and more horse-bound warriors approached, though this time not heavily armored, but armed with bows and speed.
For over a day the men stood firm against the relentless hail of arrows, and though many were slain the rest were jubilant, if the first Wave did not crush them then there was indeed hope, casualties had been many to the horde. THe second wave charged home with a fresh group of heavy cavalry, and their general, who had co-ordinated the first wave from the back of the filed, charged in with his troops this time, only t be slain by a volley of bolts, cutting down over a dozen men either side of him, and wounding his horse so that he was thrown from the saddle, and trampled beneath the feet of his own cavalry.
Despite the loss of their commander the horde relentlessly attacked, raining death from above from horseback while charging into the lines of Axe and spear with no thought of safety, only the blood lust for which they had become known. Again our axes cleaved them down by the dozen, and again their charge was halted, and eventually turned back by hails of our own arrows, but again, they charged anew with fresh troops. this time, however, their charge was met by our own, the commander abandoning their position and meeting the cavalry with charging spear, killing over a hundred in the initial rush. Many were slain and the rest disheartened as our lines pushed forward, mercilessly killing any who surrendered, showing them no mercy, for they knew they would receive none themselves.
Forward they pushed for two solid days, fighting their way through a seemingly endless supply of reinforcements until our lines stood at the base of the hill, over which the enemy rode countless times. Again they summoned their heavy cavalry, the commander saw hope at last, this was undoubtedly their last wave and he called to the men to stand firm. The charge thundered home and plunged forth into the ranks of the Byzantines, and in that hour many mens courage failed them, the spears lay forgotten on the ground as our men fled for their lives.
It seemed all would be lost, but the commander saw this aswll and urged his kAtaphractoi into a last, death or glory charge into the rear of the hordes of heavy cavalry, rallying all troop[s he could see to charge home with him. The battle was joined, and the commander held firm, slaying many men, but the Mongols had been spurred on by our failing courage and fought well and hard, until finally our cowardly routers turned back to the fry and closed in on the rear of the enemy, pinning more than half of their forces between spear and sword. The horde began to waver as they saw their Friends cut down until a last they turned and fled, leaving what Honor remained to be claimed by the victors. Of the thousand men that had fought, less than three hundred had survived, even the archers had charged in at the end, and though they had been cut down in droves it was likely that that turned the battle in our favor.
The Mongols, fleeing from the tired and battered men of Georgia sped north to enforce the armies in Khazar. The castle was surrounded, but the khan grew displeased. THe castle was a strong and mighty target, and he desired an easier foe, so he led 15,000 men to the west, leaving nearly 8,000 to conduct the siege.
To be continued...
