The Growth of Greater Armenia, 1189

If the Ayybids will not have peace, they will have a true war. The Takavor sends our ships south to blockade their ports at Gaza and Damyut. He also sent Gosdantin, commander of the garrison of Antioch, to claim Aleppo and secure our eastern border with a castle. The spy was able to open the gates, and so Gosdantin assaulted immediately.

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While the rebels faced Godsdantin's personal guard and most of his army he slipped some of the mercenary cavalry into the castle via the west gate.



Those men rode immediately to the square and invited the enemy to attack them. While the rebels were attempting to withdraw from the walls by the south gate Gosdantin rode forward quickly, and pinned the enemy commander at the gate. His infantry slowly struggled their way, under constant fire, back to the square and set about trying to fight their way through the mercenaries there.



The slaughter was very great, as the experienced rebel soldiers were simply outmanueverd and never stood a chance. They were able to inflict heavy losses on some of the mercenary companies but eventually the castle was occupied in the name of Armenia.



Near Ankara our Roman allies call some of our men to aid them in battle, and though our support is hardly needed, we provide it graciously.



1190 is a year of disaster and reversal in the east, as the Ayyubids and Abbasids combine to attack our quickly growing holdings in the northern Levant. Aleppo is besieged by the Abbasids, and Antioch by the Ayyubids. The Ayyubids have also besieged the easternmost fort which guards the approaches into Silicia.



It is a dark day when the Takavor hears of this, and he spends many hours in council with his wisest advisors seeking a course to victory. In the end he decides there is no choice but to surrender Aleppo to the Abbasids in exchange for a peace treaty, which will allow Gosdantin to use the men from Aleppo's garrison to pin the Ayyubid forces at Antioch.



With any luck the Ayyubids will consider it a betrayal on the part of the Abbasids and their alliance will come to an end. In any case the siege of Antioch must first be lifted. Captain Minas comes against the Ayyubid rear, which they believed to be secured by their siege of our fort.

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The Muslims are shocked, but not stupid. They can see that if Captain Minas is overwhelmed before Gosdantin can get his men out of Antioch and into the field that they will, at worst, be able to retreat and link back up with the Ayyubid armies near Aleppo and Silicia. They launch a desperate, full fledged attack at the Armenians holding the end of the bridge.



Under heavy fire they fight like devils and are moments from shattering the encircling forces of Captain Minas, who was forced to add his crossbowmen and horse archers to the melee, when Gosdantin arrives to makes his attack against the Ayyubid rear.



Captain Mahmoud is killed by Gosdantin's guards before his army fully comes to grips with their situation. Chaos overtakes the Ayyubids, as some of them flee, a few of them continue to press Captain Minas, and most of them turn to pursue Gosdantin as he withdraws back across the bridge.



Gosdantin's infantry and archers are all in position now, so the bridge is capped at both ends. The majority of the Ayyubid cavalry is dead, and over half of their infantry are charging back across the bridge they just crossed, once again under a heavy barrage of fire. When they reach the far end and find it held by braced spearmen they begin to break and surrender.



Few prisoners would be taken. Gosdantin's order was to give them a tale to take back to their homelands, and so most of the work was left to the archers. At either end of the bridge the dead were piled high, and nearly all of them wore Ayyubid uniforms.



Captain Minas and all of fellow Turkopole mercenaries were dead, but the Italian mercenary crossbowmen had stood up to the bloody melee astonishingly well. Gosdantin gave them a commendation and a pay bonus for their valor.



To the north, at the fort, Avag Sepuh Levon left the fort at Vakha with three companies of axemen and rode to drive back the Ayyubids at the borders of Silicia.

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The Ayyubids, having recently gotten word of the horrific defeat of their fellows at Antioch, routed almost on contact.



Few would escape, and the battle was quickly won. Ransom on the prisoners was rejected.



On the Turkish front Takavor Rueben had delayed his attack until he was certain of the good news at Antioch. In exchange for our previous aid the Roman Prince, Theophilos, had agreed to assist us with the assault on Ankara.

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Inside the castle Ekmel al Zahiri's forces were in disarray. They surely had not expected so quick an assault with so little siege equipment prepared, and the arrival of the Romans had forced al Zahiri to spread his men out thinly along the walls. As a result a lightning ladder attack was able to reach the walls nearly unopposed.



Very quickly those men captured the gatehouse, and threw wide the gates.



Armenian cavalry poured into the castle, causing further chaos among the Turkish soldiers. Their infantry scattered hither and thither, effectively doing nothing, while their cavalry engaged in a losing battle with the larger quantity of Armenian mounted men.



The arrival of the Romans ended the effective resistance of the Turks except for al Zahiri and his guards. They would not surrender until they were completely surrounded, and the square was captured.





Anakara was occupied, and all of western Turkey was now in Armenian hands. The Romans, despite perfect relations and aid in the field of battle, must be scorchingly envious of the Takavor's success.

Unfortunately the Kingdom of Georgia, our dear allies, were forced to conclude a peace treaty with the Turks due to heavy pressure on their north and east by the Kypchaks and Seljuks respectively. The Georgians were closed mouted, but merchants and emissaries reported them hard hit and barely hanging on.

A small force is sent out under an ambitious captain to the Ayyubid city east of Antioch, Hama, and sets a siege.

1191 starts with Takavor Rueben laying siege to the small Turkish town of Kirsehir. In the east Avag Sepuh Levon marches out to take command of the army at Hama, and assaults the overmatched local garrison quickly.



The city is put to the sword to as a reprisal for the Ayyubid attacks, but no attempt is made to hold it.



On the Turkish front the Sultanate at last clears away the rebels and Abbasid turncoats from the region of Kayseri. They are now prepared to assault Hetum Sasuntsi at the bridge west of Kayseri. He is the lynchpin preserving the entire weakly held zone of Armenian conquest to his west, and he is facing an army more than twice the size of his own. If he falls the Turkish tide may lap all the way west to Konya, and all these years of war may have been for naught.

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The Turkish assault is unsubtle. Their cavalry and infantry march straight forward through the hail of arrows into the massed spears of the Armenian formation.



The Armenians bend, but a weak company of Turkish infantry is the first to break.



Still the Turks press on, inflicting great losses on the Armenian cap at the bridge. Mercenary archers are sent into melee to reinforce the left flank of the Armenians.



It isn't enough. The Turkish general devotes his efforts to breaking the Armenian's left flank. Hetum calls forward his cavalry, and launches his own guardsmen into the fight to try to hold his left.



The captain of the Turk's reinforcements falls to Hetum's guard, which dismays the enemy, but they still do not flee. Hetum's infantry are all weary, and their lines have flexed as far as they can without snapping.



With the battle hanging desperately in the balance Janbulat al-Abbas shifts his efforts and breaks through the center of the Armenian line. One company of Armenian infantry turns to flee, and al-Abbas gives chase, pursued himself by the remaining Armenian heavy cavalry contingent.



It is a horrific mistake. The now leaderless Turks at the bridge see their general riding away from their desperate battle for survival. Within minutes they rout under the constant pressure from Hetum's guardsmen. Hetum sends his remaining mercenary horse archers in pursuit and turns to deal with al-Abbas personally.



Looking around for the rest of his soldiers, whom he expects to be following him in pursuit of the fleeing Armenians, al-Abbas is shocked to discover Hetum Sasuntsi bearing down on him. A sword takes him in the gut before he can even raise his own in defense, and the general of the mightiest western Turkish army remaining falls in a heap.



Very few of the hundreds who fled the bridge escape. The prisoners are offered for ransom, and for once the Turkish Sultan accepts. Perhaps he realized that without those demoralized, beaten men he would have no significant forces remaining in all the west of his lands. In any case the Takavor is pleased to have the two thousand florins from the Turks, and is even more pleased with the knowledge that their western army has been destroyed.