1453: Revival of Byzantium - Chapter 486

The no man’s land that is usually quiet suddenly turned rowdy today, as groups after groups of Ottoman soldiers started forming up in formations outside their gate, stepping over the moist soil that still have unburied deads lying around with their blood already drained to the ground into the trenches. The sun has just barely shown itself above the horizon casting the battlefield in a shallow winter spotlight giving it a bleak feeling. All Ottoman men of Epirus are being gathered around here today, from fathers to sons, brothers to brothers, lining up in rows with weapons in their hands exhaling hot white smog in the cold, nervously waiting for the moment to come.

The Roman scouts in the outpost a Roman mile away noticed this abnormal large movement of the Ottomans outside of the walls and passed the information to the headquarters in Ptolemaida via a range of bacon towers by burning up four piles of woods with a special incense that can make the smoke black in colour and thus visible under sunlight, signifying that it is an all out of the Ottomans have went out of the camp. By now on the Roman side Antonius has not received any intel regarding Skanderbeg’s attack of precision, as the later always said to the others that in order to fool and surprise your enemy one got to surprise themselves first.

But that did not stop the Roman side from realising the surprising truth that the Ottomans have now went all out and started seeking a direct combat with them in full strength after seating behind walls and blockades for an entire year. Antonius has no time to hesitate, he immediately ordered all the units that are on standby duty to gather in the central parade square and march out of the gate to confront the incoming Ottoman threat first, while the rest of the troops that are either on duty rest or swap training to be called back immediately and given an hour of preparation time.

Then Antonius himself grabbed his helmet and went to the stables, the months of seating behind fences on a tower is almost killing him with boredom. Ever since he became the commander in chief of a nation’s army that is able to gather up at least thirty thousand trained footmen at once excluding the manpower available for conscription, he found that war is no longer as exciting and engaging as before when he hops onto the battlefield himself leading a ship and a few dozen men, for the most of the wars he had in recent years he is just staring at maps talking to a bunch of familiar faces, or grabbing a chair and observing the field on top.

Today he is not going to miss it, Antonius grabbed the red cloak, his new cutlass gifted by the new Sultan of Cairo and hopped onto the horse, ready to give his new blade and armour made by master craftsmen in Cairo a try. When the supreme leader expressed his motive it sent a shockwave to everyone around him, everyone here thinks that it is inappropriate for a ruler of a nation to go onto the frontline in a warzone between tens of thousands of people, numerous people stepped out to try to stop his idea, but the Caesar insisted that he must put up a good fight in order to show his warriors that their leader is still that admiral guiding them through the seven seas before. After this one dared to stop him, not even the guard man who has followed the admiral every where that almost everyone here know knows her true identity.

Antonius grabbed the bridle, squeezed the horse’s abdomen with his thigh and slowly rode out of the stable, but just as he turned a turn he found out that one of his advisor Apostolos who has been very quiet since months ago, are already waiting for him over there being seated on his own mount. Being in a good mood Antonius gestured towards the old man to ask him to accompany him by his side. The old man bowed slightly on the horseback and rode by the Caesar’s side.

The group of knights ventured out into the parade square, where thousands of his men have already gathered in the parade square with full equipment on. Upon seeing their Caesar, the thousands plus soldiers from all various nations faced him at once and began cheering by raising their blades high up towards the sky and stomping their feet. The blades and the armour of an entire army glistered under the morning sun light right into Antonius’ eyes, their thunderous war cries chased off all evils within a mile’s radius almost shattering Antonius’ eardrum. The feet stomping of a thousand men scared the mount of Antonius making her step backwards letting out long neighs in fear, Antonius gently gave a few pats on her manes and laughed out loud to Apostolos by his side, who is there suggesting a few ideas and tricks they can do during the battle.

“Apostolos! Apostolos! Look at my army! Look at my army!”

Apostolos bowed slightly staring towards the manes of his mount and answered. “Indeed, a formidable force of righteous and justice! A force that has never been seen in ages!”

Antonius’ face is already beaming red with the increased adrenaline level in his head. He ordered Helio to pour every single warrior here a bowl of mead, including himself, and gulped it down at once wiping his mouth clean. “Apostolos! You know the history better than me, tell me! Apostolos! Has there ever been a Roman emperor’s army that is more capable than mine? Has there been an army in the entire known world that is more ferocious than mine?”

All the other men behind Antonius felt their heart rate accelerating when they heard their ruler finally comparing himself with the past Roman emperors, but the most senior of them here Apostolos instead remained calm as he bowed down even further replying. “Yes, your majesty, there has not been a single army that is as strong as yours, not even a single Roman emperor since the days of the Alexiad can outmatch yours.”

“Alexiad?” Antonius sniggered filled with zest and confidence. “If I am taken back into the days of the Roman republic, I would easily defeat the forces of Crassus, Pompey and Caesar, no one, including that disgrace that has the same name as me in Egypt, can outmatch me. Apostolos, tell me which Roman emperor I am like?”

“It is hard to say, your majesty. If you are asking me, I would say… Leo III, Basil I, or… Nikephoros I.”

The first two names are still alright, one being the emperor of the Isaurian who spent his entire life repelling the rise of the Saracens in Anatolia, the later Basil I is the creator of the Macedonian which is another high tide of the Roman empire in all perspectives. But the last name, Nikephoros I, should not have been here, he is an emperor that solidified the economy and theme system passed down by Heraclius, fortified the frontier against the Saracens but there is one thing, that is he too decided to engage himself in first line combat operations, got slain in an ambush and his skull is turned into a drinking cup by the Bulgars.

So, this brings in some problems, you see, why did Apostolos, who is known to be diligent in the way he talks, decide to bring the name of Nikephoros I out to pour a bucket of icy old water onto Antonius extinguishing his flames of excitement. All the ones who know the piece of history looked up at the old man staring at him feeling appalled and nervous, while the people who are relatively unequipped in this field of study just looked around feeling strange that why is everyone turning stern out of a sudden.

Of course, Antonius knows know the hell is this chap called Nikephoros I, that laugh immediately froze on his face as the words of Apostolos’ hoarse and old voice echoed through his head. He knows what is the purpose of Apostolos bringing out the name of this pre emperor whose head is transformed into a wine drinking cup and he is definitely feeling nostalgic about it, thus the admiral made a cold humph and went away, feeling annoyed by everything going on over here.

Antonius rode away into the crowd while Apostolos stayed there still maintaining that bowing body posture. Numerous people inclusive of the commanders like Julian and Helio rode past him, but all did not bother, or did not dare to remind him that the Caesar has already went away, except for his colleague Alexios.

“Oh Apostolos, have you turned mad? Are you insane? Are you way too old to even think properly?” Alexios grew anxious at the appalling words of his colleague. “Can’t you see that the Caesar is in a good mood, why did you end up spoiling it for everyone’s sake?”