Old Vassals 3

Tirant and a few hundred of his Almogavar elite light infantry unit were either in the mountains or in the woods for the past two months scouting any possible enemy crossings, sizing the enemies' border forces, and mapping the river crossings and mountain passes. Their information was extremely valuable. So my grandfather and I summoned him to our war council.

Tirant entered the room, greeted us, and put the maps he brought with him on the table in front of us. Then he pointed to a location on the map.

"First of all, Thermopylae is the only land route large enough to bear any significant traffic between the Duchy of Athens and the Dutchy of Thessaloniki. To go from north to south along the east coast without trespassing the borders of the Despotate of Epirus requires the use of this pass."

"The Gates of Hell, huh?"

"Ah, you know of this pass, sir?"

"Yes, it is the location of a famous ancient battle."

Well, not of this world's, but it doesn't take a genius to imagine such a chokepoint would be the sight of a battle here in this world too. Thermopylae was the location of the battle between the Greek allies and the invading Persians. The legend of the 300 Spartans and the great King of Sparta Leonidas took place in Thermopylae.

Tirant looked a bit shocked, probably not expecting me to know of the pass, but he continued with his explanation.

"East gate is completely under the control of the Duchy of Athens and he was building fortifications in the East of the river Spercheios that follows through the middle of the pass. The river passage is controlled by a small castle to the west, making it impossible to pass without alerting the enemy."

To which my grandfather replied:

"Hmm, that certainly does not sound promising. Maybe we should postpone the initial attack and divert their attention by launching an attack from the sea? I can muster around 5 galleys and 40 merchant ships to transport troops if Your Highness grants me a few months."

"Yes, but that would require us to call ships from Admiral Niketas' fleet fighting the Duke of Naxos, the Knights of Lazarus in Rhodes, and, most importantly, the Republic of Aquileia. Admiral needs all the available ships he can gather. We can't move more than 3500 in the initial attack, and we won't have more than a few pieces of artillery with us as the roads are not in ideal condition and it will only get worse if we get caught up in rain. Maybe we could try to pull away from their positions by a false retreat? Would that work Tirant?"

The number of soldiers that I moved from Alta was 2500. I moved half a unit of tercio, meaning 10 companies numbering 1500 with each company having 150 men. Most of the tercio were pikemen and the rest were musketeers. 100 Knights in total from the Order of the Holy Knights and the Order of the Knights of Light and 400 cavalrymen under them. Around 50 artillery operators, guards, and officers for 4-5 artillery pieces. Finally, the rest of the 450 was the Almogavar light infantry. My grandfather could move around 3000 soldiers himself, but he needed to reinforce his coastal towns as a percussion as the Republic of Aquileia could strike from the coast, so he moved only with his core force of a thousand men. The reason why we had to strike first was due to the possibility of the Duchies and the Republic building more defenses and gathering more troops, which would only lead to more bloodshed and a more costly war, which would leave us defenseless in the case of a Medes led invasion to enthrone my pathetic older brother.

"With all due respect, I do not find that plausible, sir. They were building catapults and ballistas to defend their fortifications and some of my men who went further into the enemy territory said around 500 heavily armed crossbowmen and 50 infantry with halberds and pickaxes were seen marching towards the fortifications in the Eastern Gate of the pass. We have no confirmation, but we suspect them to be the mercenaries sent by the Republic of Aquileia."

My grandfather spoke next:

"We could wait for more troops from Alta to come, but the enemy would have time to reinforce too, making us stranded on enemy territory and an easier target especially when the supply route is stretched thin."

I asked Tirant

"What do you think Tirant? Do you have a plan? Speak freely."

"Sir, there is a shallow pass in the Spercheios river further upstream which was the main route that our troops used to cross into Hellada, to the Duke of Athens' territory. We can move all of our Almogavar light infantry and some of our cavalry at night without being seen and flank the enemy by going through one of the mountain passes. If we coordinate via pigeons, we can then launch a simultaneous attack from both the front and the flanks."

"I see. That sounds like a plan to me. Good work."

A plan that could work well, and I had no reason to oppose it.

We sent invitations to all three Dukes of Hellada(Greece) to attend the wedding and confirm their allegiance. I also included a formal protest from the Council of Elders in Alta so that they would understand my and the Temple of Light's position, and our casus belli, the justification and cause of a war, when we attack them. This was also the final opportunity that I gave them to reconsider their actions and avoid war.

However, the little hopes and goodwill that I had for the Duchies were trampled when my messengers returned with empty handed. To make it worse, we later learned that all three duchies switched their allegiances to that of the Republic of Aquileia and an army from the Republic of Aquileia started marching past the border in Morea and towards the fortified town Mystras where the High Priest Boutsaras Doxapatres resided. The High Priest would have to start his battle before us, but considering his reputation, the soldiers and knights that I sent to him as well as the materials that were needed to last a siege, he should be able to last the siege until I can manage to send a relief army.

My parents' wedding took place in the late summer, and a few days later I and my knights joined the already marching army with the rest of the supplies. This campaign was the second of our campaigns that took place outside the ideal campaigning season, which was spring, and our soldiers moved forwards despite the high temperatures of late summer. The army discipline, the availability of cold beverages and ice due to the technological advancements of Alta, as well as the morale of the army made the otherwise hellish march bearable.

Our army entered the Thermopylae pass from the Western Gate and camped 10 kms away from the allied forces of the Duke of Athens, the Republic of Aquileia, as well as small reinforcements from the Duchy of Achaea. The Duchy of Naxos had to worry about their island of Euboea which was just opposite the gulf and was planned to be invaded in the second stage of the war.