Chapter Fifteen: The Winds of Change
The council chambers of the Khan were locked. Inside raged a great debate with the future of the planet being decided by the rulers of the mightiest nation on earth. At issue was the credibility of the Mongol’s erstwhile ally the Byzantines, and whether the Mongols should proceed with the assault on the growing America, or instead turn on the not so trustworthy, Byzantines. Certainly there had been more than a few events that had caused the powers that be to raise their eyebrows in surprise and suspicion at the actions of Theodora’s democracy.
Were these problems the result of the democracy itself, or was there in fact a deeper Byzantine plan to treacherously turn on the Mongols at the worst possible time? In spite of the huge land gain that the Byzantine-Mongolian Pact offered to the Byzantines, when it had come time to act, Theodora had insisted on further tribute to gain her commitment, and then had turned against the principles of the Pact to ally in the Americans against the Chinese. But worst of all, the agreed support from the east never eventuated. It was as if the Byzantine leadership were holding their forces back in reserve for a future, unknown purpose.
The Americans, on the other hand, had risen gloriously to the challenge, first against the Germans, and then, although it was unintended that they be part of the Chinese campaign, the American presence there was more worthy than the Byzantine contribution!
Subedei provided a strategic assessment of warring against the two nations. Both of them had a sizeable, productive core, but they also had scattered isolated cities across the former Germanic lands and on the Great Dividing Range. These isolated cities actually presented the greatest threat currently to a campaign against either civilisation, for it was known that each nation had a large force based amongst these cities, and at that time the Mongolians were spread very thinly in the area. Against either foe, the Mongols could expect to lose a city or two in this area, before the end of the enemy, and a reassertion of Mongolian might in the area, unless there was a substantial delay while sufficient additional force was moved to protect these holdings.
Clearly a delay would not suit the Mongols, because the Byzantines had become a powerhouse of technological progress under this ‘democracy’, and were rumoured to be working on a more powerful defender than any yet seen. Should these ‘rifles’ appear in the barricades of the enemy, even the new cavalry units would suffer heavy casualties against them.
On the other hand, the Americans were making rapid progress, and had used knights extensively in the last campaign against the Chinese. However, they were a long way from this ‘rifle’ concept, and so perhaps more time was available should the Mongols chose to stick to the initial Pact concept.
There was one other driving force at this time. The Byzantines lacked a source of saltpetre. Even though they knew how to build cavalry of their own, and obviously the musket defenders as well, without saltpetre they could not equip any battalions this way, and so had to make do with inferior units. With the rifle defemders, it was believed that the Byzantines would avoid this problem entirely, and so there was a crucial window of opportunity that presented itself right now for action against the complex nation.
Of course after the long debate, the decision, as always, came down to the absolute authority of the Khan. Clearly the Khan understood the big picture better than most. He saw that the Byzantines were a proud people, that even if there was currently no treacherous intent there, even with the current evidence to the contrary, later on there would be a large even stronger nation growing ever more jealous of the might of the Mongols. Like an untreated wound this resentment would fester until a far worst conflict would one day arise. And so there was really no choice but to move immediately against the former ally, and nip this problem in the bud.
It was Chebe who made the most startling of all pronouncements. After studying the strategic options for the war from Subedei’s schematics, it was apparent that the Byzantines had access to two local sources of horses and one of iron. Clearly, there would be significant benefit to the Mongolian campaign if these resources were severed from Byzantine control at the earliest opportunity. The only problem was that these resources were deep in the heartland of the Byzantine empire on the far eastern coastline. The war would be all but over before they could be assaulted. Or, Chebe pointed out, advanced expeditionary forces could use the current right of passage with the Byzantines to take up positions from which to strike directly at these all important resource targets.
This brought a startled hush over the assembled throng. Chebe had just suggested an action that was tantamount to dishonourable war! Till now the Mongols had jealously protected the honour of their wartime tradition, though clearly this honour had not always been shown in retrun, with nations refusing to meet their alliance commitments for the full term, and so on. But for the Mongols themselves to consider such an action, and for the suggestion to come from one so high in the hierarchy as Chene, was virtually unthinkable!
However, as the room returned to normal, Chebe explained further. The rapid elimination of the Byzantines’ higly effective mounted force with save the lives of many brave Mongolian warriors. This was an honourable end in itself! The action would clearly make the establishment of right of passage arrangements with other nations more difficult, but clearly the Mongols did not really need rights of passage with other nations. And so it was agreed.
Troops were immediately ordered to assemble at three staging points within Byzantine territory. The cities of Varna and Caesarea needed to fall to end the Byzantine access to the horses, and the southern city of Heraclea possessed the Byzantine sole access to iron.
The only difficulty with the Byzantines was the fact that in the Bay of India, they possessed a one tile city that defied any current technological ability to assault, and so it would be impossible to drive this war to a total conclusion!
It was early in the new century that the troops had positioned themselves. Theodora had remained surprisingly passive during this time, after all the Mongolian troops had every right to be there, even if to all intents and purposes, there was really no point in their current locations. The smug Byzantine ambassador literally had the colour vanish from his face as the Khan conveyed the war declaration to him, aware as he was of the current Mongolian troop deployment deep within his lands.
But, once again, the Mongols were not going to go into this war alone, although it was expected that they would once more bear the brunt of the force within the Byzantine heartland. However, out in the former Germanic lands, others had troops in numbers. The Inca had fully two divisions of mounted troops heading towards the remnants of the Indian empire. That was clearly overkill! The Incan force could much more profitably be directed against the almost two divisions of Byzantine troops in the same general area!
The Incans were not cheap. They demand, and received a supply of both the Mongolian Ivory, and the fine Mongolian furs for their trouble in aiding against the Byzantines.
Then of course there was the Americans. Clearly the Byzantines had been working the circuit to build their confidence with the Americans, for just such an eventuality. Why else did they bring the Americans in on the war against the Chinese? The miracle worker, Yeh-lu was sent to the American Lincoln to make the Mongolian case. It was not known exactly how he pulled it off, and ultimately for so little as well, but Yeh-lu was able to return to Karakorum with the good news that the Americans were also going to aid the just fight against the Byzantines.
The action actually started away from the Byzantine core cities. First there was the city of Novgorod, the former Russian city and home to the Russian wines. A single keshik army ploughed through three Byzantine pike battalions to usurp Byzantine rule, and replace the governors with Mongolian ones.
In the Germanic lands, a scouting keshik battalion ran into a full six battalions of Byzantine knights by the Byzantine city of Bonn. Faced with overwhelming odds, the brave keshik unit attacked first, and it resulted in a simple swap of a battalion each. Then the Inca joined in the action, and actually succeeded in capturing Bonn. This was to be the shoitest reign in history, however, as the half division of Byzantine knights proved sufficient to rout the invaders and reclaim their city. At new Leipzig, three cavalry battalions stormed the Byzantine defenders and smashed their way through to claim the city.
In former Chinese lands by Macao, the 7th keshik army killed a knight unit. By Tientsin, the elite cavalry battalion lead by Mongke destroyed a Byzantine pike battalion, and in the process Mongke earned the right to command the first cavalry army.
By Beijing there are no less than four Byzantine knight battalions, and a very thin defense indeed! The single cavalry garrison at Shanghai charged into the attack killing one battalion. The single cavalry garrison at Hangchow also evacuated to join the fight, killing a knight battalion, and then retreating to Tsingtao. However, the Tsingtao and Beijing single cavalry battalions did not fare as well. In their assaults, both perished against the Byzantine tactics, leaving some nasty holes in the Mongolian lines.
The Byzantines seize on the opportunity, and grab deserted Hangchow. At New Leipzig, the Byzantines conjure up the numbers to crush three cavalry battalions and take the city. But at Berlin, the defence holds strong. Two knight battalions are retreated, though a crusader battalion is lost.
The American contribution is the destruction of two Byzantine pike battalions for the loss of one medieval infantry battalion.
But as the Byzantines well know, the real war was fought in the heartland of Byzantium itself. At the iron source city of Herakclea, the secong keshik army combined with a cavalry battalion to destroy two pikes and a knight battalion, but this was not enough. The defence yet held strong.
At the horse resource city of Caesarea, another keshik army combined with no less then three cavalry battalions to wipe out the defence of four pike battalions and a knight battalion, to secure the first strategic resource source. This freed up the second keshik army inthis force, Kublai’s keshik army to assault the capital of Constantinople, and home to the vaunted training facility of Sun Tzu. However, as he had to assault this fortress alone, even Kublai’s army could only destroy two battalions of pikes of the many present there.
At the second horse resource of Varna in the north, a large force of Mongolian cavalry had assembled. For the loss of one cavalry battalion, and with one retreat, this force destroyed four pike and three knight battalions to capture Varna, and eliminate the Byzantine native access to horses totally. They would build no more of their fared mounted units this war! With the destruction of almost three quarters of one division in an entrenched defensive position, it was inevitable that a new leader would emerge to lead another army. The field commander Ogodei, a distant cousin of the famous keshik commander, was granted the great honour of leading the second cavalry army.
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