The Two Front War, 1191

After our raid on Hama left it damaged and without a garrison the Ayyubids quickly sent a force to reclaim the city and began rebuilding. Takavor Rueben was pleased with this result, it meant that in another year or two the city could be raided again for wealth. Meanwhile, on the Turkish front, the Takavor moved forward with his attack at Kirsehir, where another freshly crowned Sultan was in command.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


As the Armenian rams approached the thin wooden palisade fanatical Ghazis rushed out to attack them. Two of the rams proceeded with their attack, but the third stopped to pin the Ghazis. Mounted archers then made a crushing charge against their rear, breaking them.



The remnants were pursued back to the town square, where the new Sultan awaited. Here Takavor Rueben's reputation as an honorable ruler benefitted his men greatly, as the Sultan agreed to meet and negotiate with our King. While the soldiers stood by with weapons drawn, outnumbering the Sultan's guard by several hundred, the Sultan himself conducted a haughty negotiation with Takavor Rueben. It seemed the Sultan had grown up in this region, and greatly desired to preserve his home town from the fate suffered by Konya. Takavor Rueben could see the wisdom in this course. In the end the man, no longer a Sultan, knelt before the Takavor and swore to go into exile and trouble Armenia no more. Takavor Rueben let him go and peacefully occupied the town. Only after the talks were over did the Takavor reveal that he had been badly injured in the fighting, and was clinging to conciousness the whole time.



Despite this his army then marched directly to the walls of the Turkish capital at Kayseri. The city had been reinforced so that the two forces were nearly equal in number, but the Armenian men were more experienced. An Armenian agent in northern Turkey reported that an entire army of Romans had rebelled against their ruler and were holed up in the hills. Takavor Rueben sent for fresh nobles from Armenia to relieve him of command and allow him time to recuperate in his old age.

In 1192 the Turks inside Kayseri drew up every man capable of holding a sword and placed him on the walls, almost doubling the effective size of their force, though greatly diluting it's experience. The Takavor decided to hold them under siege for a time rather than to attempt an assault against such numbers. (Garrison script accounted for the last 8 companies of men.)



Hama was besieged again, and a young commander from Vakha named Yeranors Tzopats attempted to run the gamut of Turkish armies through their remaining territories to reach Kayseri and aid the King. Though he was attacked twice both times he managed to escape through expert riding.

The winter brought black news out of the north, as the Abbasids entered the seemingly hopeless war against our Georgian allies. Still they would accept no aid and refused to exchange maps with our own Kingdom, so we stayed out of their affairs. Hama is sacked again, against minimal resistance, and once again it is not held. A small battle takes place near there, resulting in the death of an over anxious Ayyubid general.



At the start of 1193 the city of Tarsus accepts an offer from the Theives' Guild. In exchange for the construction of a guild house they will police their own and reduce corruption, an offer which can hardly be refused. In northern Turkey the Romans ask the aid of a small Armenian army as they make their attack on the city of Amasia, and we agree.



Little help was needed, but the Turks do agree to pay a small sum as ransom for the men captured in the attack. As winter comes the Takavor decides that the city of Hama is unlikely to be retaken by the Ayyubids, and instead offers to let the Roman Empire garrison it. His hope is that the Romans will be drawn into the war against the Ayyubids. Their emissary accepts the gift, and sends a small force to garrison the town.





Two more cooperative battles take place near Amasia to clear off the Turks near that now Roman city, and relations with the ERE are perfect as the Turks retreat time and time again.





A pair of Abbasid assassins are spotted creeping into Turkish lands. The Takavor orders more spies trained to keep watch for such agents of darkness. At Homs, beyond Hama, the army of Antioch marches south again to attack the Ayyubids.



On the Turkish front Takavor Rueben holds a ceremony to declare Yeranors Tzopats the new Master of Horse for Armenia, and then the Takavor retires to a quiet life behind the lines. His wounds would not actually prevent him from commanding men, but considering his advanced age it was time to pass the torch to the next generation. Yeranors, having been substantially reinforced, immediately orders the assault on Kayseri to go forward against yet another freshly crowned Turkish Sultan.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


All three sides of the city are under attack, with a smaller force including a ram and two ladder teams to the south, a medium sized force of two siege towers and a ram at the main, western gate, and a large army with many ladder teams and a ram moving against the north gate.



In the north the ladder teams isolate two small companies of Turks to overcome, and scale the ladder to attack while the ram moves into position.



In the south the ladder teams are only a distraction to prevent the long range Turkish bowmen from burning the ram in use there. The teams are not expected to capture the walls, but have orders to tie up the defenders as long as possible. At the western gate the siege towers and ram reach their positions simultaneously, a testament to young Yeranors' skill as a commander.



The fighting on the north walls is favorable, and soon the two smaller Turkish forces are in flight, but several larger groups of Turks have arrived to reinforce them. The Armenian mercenaries now own the walls and must fight to defend them. To the south the enemy has sallied Ghazis to attack the crew of the ram. Yeranors rides hard to reinforce them, and is met by a company of mounted Turks. the fight is fierce, and the infantry on both sides sustains heavy casualties.



The siege towers take the walls at the western gate against no opposition, but rather than attack immediately they wait for the gate to fall before marching down. At the south gate Yeranors has called up his reserve, two companies of axemen, and is pressing hard against the Turkish reinforcements, more Ghazis.



Fighting on the north walls is uncompromising. Weary Armenians hirelings are holding back the tide of Turkish spearmen and light infantry, but their grip is increasingly tenuous. They need the gates to fall so that the pressure against them can be lifted before more substantial enemy reinforcements attack them on the other side.



At last the Turks are cleared away from the south gate as a single Muslim cavalryman rides away to carry news of the fall of the southern walls. Yeranors rides into the city triumphantly, bringing his axemen behind him.



Unfortunately the spearmen who held the attention of the Turkish bowmen long enough to allow the south gate to fall have now been driven off, and Armenian soldiers flee the field in shame. The southeastern stretch of the city is ours from the gate down, but the southwest quadrant is still held against us.



The north gate falls at last! The axemen who crewed the ram rush into the city to reinforce the hardy mercenaries who are still holding their ground on the northerwestern walls. Taking the Turkish light infantry from behind, they begin to carve a bloody path to their allies.



The main gate has been thrown down as well, and the two companies of axemen rush down on the Sultan's guard, aided by Yeranors' second in command and a company of horse archers. The Sultan can see that he is losing his grip on the city, and he orders desperate measures. His ballista fires into the melee directly in front of the Sultan himself, striking one of his own guards and doing no harm to our men.



On the south side of the city the Turkish infantry have poured down from the walls and are fighting a desperate battle against Yeranors and his axemen. They are joined by the final Turkish reserve, more Ghazis, who block the streets to the square. The enemy there is starting to waver, however, as the superior numbers of Armenian axemen inflict heavy losses. At the western gate the Sultan's guard has been driven back several yards, and few of them remain ahorse. Their infantry is lost, and the Sultan is surrounded. At last a mercenary's sword takes him in the throat, and another Turkish King falls to an Armenian blade.



Now the enemy breaks, their will sapped by the loss of their commander. In the south and the north the few foot Turks who still struggled to resist our advance throw down their swords and attempt to flee to the square.





None of them would make it. Every Turk in the city was put to death, and the city itself was put to the sword, earning almost twelve thousand in coin for the Empire of Armenia.





(Quite an impressive defense by the AI. It managed to hold on at all three sides long enough to inflict almost equal losses on my army. A very fun battle!)


(The end of my reign)