Sorry for the delay. I fell asleep after doing a few things and lost track of time.
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Anno Domini 829, March-7-April-20
"My strategos, the walls in the eastern sector of the city are already cracked. The siege engineers believe they may fall after a few more weeks of bombardment," said one of the tourmarches under my command, the one in charge of the eastern camp.
"Have the trebuchets concentrate their fire on the cracked sections and double the engineers' shifts. I want stones being thrown even at night. We must make their situation look desperate to draw the Bulgarian army into attacking us," I said while studying the maps spread across the table.
"The second trench you ordered, my strategos, is ready, and the earth is being used to fortify the camps as you requested," said another tourmarches responsible for the defensive works.
"Good. That gives us security against a possible sortie. Do not let the men stop working. Have them dig a trench around the camp, around the counterwall. That way they could only remove us with a siege," I said, issuing new orders.
"Is that not excessive, my strategos? The defenses are already solid. More fortifications might make our men think we are doing something unwise and frighten them," the tourmarches said with concern.
"It is better to be well protected than to need defenses when the Bulgarians are upon us. For now the scouts have seen nothing, but I am certain a Bulgarian army is forming nearby, probably north of the Danube. When that happens we must force them into battle on our terms. So dig the third trench," I said while reviewing scouting reports.
"What about the transport of slaves to Adrianople? Did it arrive without problems?" I asked, continuing to read report after report.
"Yes, my strategos. The shipment arrived. The eight thousand prisoners have already been moved. We are currently preparing another shipment to be sent south with the prisoners recently captured by our patrols," replied a drungarios in charge of organizing the transports.
"Good. Remind the patrols to be careful and not to take risks just to capture more prisoners. We need to know when the Bulgarians will arrive."
"As you command," said the drungarios before leaving.
As I read the reports from the other sieges and saw that they were progressing well, since negotiations had at least begun for the surrender of Diampolis, it appeared they were running out of food. That forced them to negotiate an honorable surrender, which should conclude soon once the guarantees requested by the garrison were granted.
Bardas entered covered in bloodstains and visibly agitated.
"Kentarchos, what happened?" I asked, looking at Bardas, who licked his lips before speaking.
"During our reconnaissance mission we encountered a Bulgarian patrol that attacked us. We fought and won. I took some losses, so I came to report," Bardas said, breathing heavily.
"Did you pursue them?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and staring at him.
"No. They were more numerous than us, but worse equipped. We managed to win, but it seemed they were falling back to bring reinforcements," Bardas said.
"Good. Sigurd, take my riders and head to the area the kentarchos indicated. Confirm the sighting of the Bulgarian forces. If they are before us, we will march to meet them," I said with a smile.
"At your orders, strategos," Bardas said. Though still unsettled, he continued fulfilling his duties and left the tent with Sigurd.
"Cancel the orders to build a third trench. Let the men rest, drink, and eat. There may be a battle soon," I said while fastening my sword to my belt.
After that, I began inspecting the camp's defenses. For now we were well protected. We had a wall and a counterwall and two trenches separating us from the Bulgarian forces inside the city. Only narrow passages remained for our forces to pass through, blocking any possibility of a rapid counterattack, since they would have to fill the trenches to cross quickly, and in those tight passages a small group of men could stop them without much trouble.
In many places the upper parts of the city walls were being battered, and more than once we watched one of the tall towers collapse completely, crushing the defenders who had taken shelter there to avoid falling stones.
No reinforcements had arrived from anywhere. Even when I expected Varangian reinforcements from Hakon, he seemed to be taking much longer than usual to bring me men, which meant one of two things: either he was having great success recruiting more people and was taking time to fill his ships, or this time fortune had not favored him. Whatever the case, for the moment I would not have additional Varangian forces.
I would have to make do with my twenty-eight thousand men. All the military equipment we captured was used to outfit them and improve their armor. It was difficult to use the Greek slaves as auxiliary forces by hiring them. Being gaunt, they were of little use in military activity, and it would only waste food feeding someone who would flee at the first contact with battle.
I waited for news from the scouts until finally Sigurd appeared covered in blood, bringing the news I had expected. He had encountered Bulgarian patrols scouting the road and had managed to observe the main Bulgarian force.
According to the scouts, who counted the enemy numbers, they were close to thirty thousand men, marching as fast as possible toward the capital.
It was a number very similar to mine, but there remained the issue of the forces inside Pliska, which must number in the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, as it was the Bulgarian capital. Surely once we entered their territory they concentrated there, so there must be many warriors inside, though not enough to break the siege on their own.
Taking advantage of the approaching night, we rested while maintaining patrols to watch the area.
The next day, as soon as my scouts confirmed that the Bulgarian camp was in the area, I left four thousand men maintaining the siege in the four camps surrounding the city. They were enough to contain any sortie, mainly a mix of themata archers along with some veteran Greeks to secure our rear.
We marched out in formation to seek them. Taking advantage of the wide plains of the region, we deployed into battle formations as we advanced. After an hour of marching, we reached the Bulgarian camp, which showed heavy movement.
The moment they saw us in the distance, we noticed the camp being dismantled and the Bulgarians beginning to withdraw.
They clearly had no intention of fighting. They attempted to maneuver around us, trying to reach the city of Pliska without engaging us, which forced us to play a game of cat and mouse to compel them into battle.
We often became shadows trailing their marching columns as they moved across the region, while I sent my lighter cavalry to attack nearby villages, burning them and throwing bodies into the wells to deny them supplies. Every time I sensed the direction they intended to move, I dispatched riders to burn every nearby settlement in the area, blocking their path at all times.
On two occasions they tried to use the tactic of breaking camp and moving in the middle of the night while leaving several bonfires burning to fake their numbers. But since I had many guards and scouts closely watching their movements, we noticed how they abandoned the camp in an attempt to slip away and reach the Bulgarian capital.
It was even amusing, because while they were doing that, I ordered the false camp burned so they would not be able to return later to retrieve their tents. In the following days they slept exposed to the elements. Even though it was already spring, they still had to endure the weather after having almost completely abandoned their shelters.
However, we began to notice that reinforcements were frequently arriving to the Bulgarian army from the north.
With each passing day their numbers increased as more troops arrived from the north. Even so, despite the growing numerical difference, the Bulgarians continued refusing to fight. I could see that the majority of their forces were composed of tribal levies from the various Slavic tribes, while their best equipped troops were their heavy infantry and cavalry.
The arrival of reinforcements forced them to require more supplies, so they began responding to our attacks on nearby villages to prevent us from burning their granaries, which were not very full but were still vital. Every day cavalry clashes erupted between our forces. The Bulgarians used composite bows similar to those my men had begun adopting from Syria. Clearly, the Bulgarians had far more experience in that kind of combat, but superior equipment balanced the situation. Every day men died on both sides in skirmishes, though usually more Bulgarians than ours.
Yet everything remained the same. The Bulgarians refused open battle and did everything possible to break through our blockade. In a desperate attempt, they tried to cross the river south of Pliska, likely to cut our supply routes, but we blocked them at the bridges. Since I controlled them, I ordered most of them demolished, leaving only a few under our control.
During the entire pursuit, Diampolis finally surrendered, and I received a contingent of one thousand men to increase my numbers once the siege ended. Lardea was also expected to fall soon, as its walls had been breached and the garrison had already begun negotiating its surrender.
With that I should receive another two thousand men, since with broken walls the garrison could not realistically hold under those conditions.
As the days passed and skirmishes between my men and the Bulgarians continued to intensify, they kept gathering more and more troops, to the point that the scouts were already reporting that the Bulgarians numbered around forty thousand.
The situation was beginning to turn unfavorable, as they were close to surpassing us in numbers. Although we were winning nearly all the skirmishes between our armies, the numerical difference continued to grow.
I was already considering lifting the siege when I received crucial information: the walls of Pliska had collapsed, and we could enter the city if we wished.
That information was exactly what I needed. After weeks of battering the walls and fighting Bulgarian forces, I could now force a battle, even though I no longer held the numerical advantage I had originally sought.
We finally ceased harassing the Bulgarians and returned to the siege of Pliska.
We returned to the siege camp, where I observed that the third trench I had ordered weeks earlier was finally completed.
Once again my army was united, and I was seriously considering storming the city. If Omurtag was inside, I could negotiate the surrender of Bulgaria or something similar. But if he was not inside, we would be in serious trouble.
As I was thinking, I noticed a force approaching from the south without any banners, which immediately caught my attention. Without knowing whom they served, I rode out alone only to realize by their armor that they were Varangians.
I received them with open arms and saw that the jarls who had previously left Crete with their men had returned, bringing even more warriors than Hakon had gathered. Apparently, he had simply taken the Varangian families back to Crete while we received a massive contingent of Varangian reinforcements.
Nearly ten thousand Varangian warriors had arrived to bolster our numbers, a gift from heaven, especially since many of those forces were personal retinues of Varangian jarls who had come eager to continue their raids and seek honorable combat.
We quickly integrated them into my forces. More than half of my army was now composed of Varangians.
Now I had the strength to face the Bulgarians, because we finally noticed that their forces began camping directly in front of us. They had seen that the city walls had fallen, and they had no choice but to confront us or watch their capital be completely sacked.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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