Chapter 582: The Bell Curve
Helios has a total of approximately six thousand soldiers across the chain of garrisons watching over all enemy movements from the Aegean coasts, warlords of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Sultanate.
Not all of the six thousand men can be used to storm the enemy lines though, of the six thousand men there are four hundred men who are required to guard over the coast and the watch points across the borders so that Helios would not be completely ignorant if the enemies try to sneak into his back, and there are a thousand men who are responsible for the logistics, maintenance, transport, intel, rations and other aspects that are necessary for this army, leaving it to only around four thousand men that Helios can deploy for now, this size is of course never comparable with the sheer force of the King of the Franks or the corona regni of Polonia (Poland), but at least it is still a formidable force against the Ottomans in the region.
Helios made no delays, he immediately issued orders for his staff to check and prepare the logistics, every sub units to start preparing their gears, the warehouse are to grease and prepare those siege machines that are manufactured more than a year ago, the archers are to prepare their bow strings and collect their arrows, the entire troop shall have an early breakfast, and then move off before dawn, the destination is not told of course, but every single trooper can feel that the day that they have been training for, is finally coming.
Another night without words.
The next morning the staff and lieutenants came to Helios to report on the status of the war preparation, while there is one lieutenant, who is full of questioned, asked. "General, how many reinforcements are we going to receive for this operation?"
"None." Helios answered without looking as he continued outlining the embark routes of the troops on the map spread over the table.
"None?!"The lieutenants could not believe their ears. "General! We only have six thousand men! And we are going to face the chain of fortresses built by Hamza over the last five years! And there must be at least two thousand Ottomans guarding those garrisons! How are we going to commence with this operation with only six thousand men!"
"Yes general, we need more siege equipment, we need the assistance of the navy, we need reinforcements, general, mind if I ask, do you have the approval of the Caesar? Where is the Caesar now?"
"The Caesar!" Helios raised his voice. "Is still in Thessaloniki, and yes, he has ordered me to commence this operation, and the reason for this operation, is to make people believe that it is just another ordinary standoff between the two sides, not a major battle, creating an illusion to prevent the Bulgarian warlords from intervening. The Caesar... The Caesar! Although he is not here by himself, but he will be closely watching over the process of us gaining the final victory, listen, we need to achieve a swift victory, in a short period of time, like a blitz! To prevent anything that we are not expecting! With all cost! Are you clear?"
"But general!" The lieutenant continued trying to argue against the high command. "But our men..."
"I! Let me repeat for one more time! Read my lips!" Helios slammed the table creating another crack on the planks and roared towards his officers. "I do not want to hear anyone, ANYONE, mentioning anything about casualties, will be charged into detention barracks for the first offence, and if you still dare to offend for the second time, I will have to chop off your head to maintain military discipline, you read me?"
"..."
The lieutenants and officers looked at one another and backed off, returning to their roles. They might not say it, but Helios can see their faces full of disbelief, distrust, agony, and fury. These men are mostly brilliant and courageous young men recruited in Thessaly, most of the officers and troopers actually came from the same county knowing, or even connected to one another, it is definitely suffocating for them to carry out this order that would get their friends, colleagues and maybe family members killed in action, for a victory with a price too high and nothing they can possibly gain from other than the corpses of their known ones.
Helios collapsed onto his seat, gasping for air.
Antonius emerged, in his armour, and gave a pat on Helios.
He too heard the quarrels just now, but that does not extinguish the flame in his mind for revenge.
He knows that wars because of vengeance usually ends badly, but he is not engulfed by the ugly thirst, for both Abdullah, Apostolos, and even the old Anjelo in his death bed approved this military operation after a series of investigations and discussions.
The Ottomans are stuck in political dispute, they killed their most abled frontline commander Hamza Pasha, who too is affiliated with the owner of Anatolia Zaganos Pasha, a lot of troops from the garrisons are withdrawn back to Edirne and the eastern front due to political struggles, lots of senior beys are purged, this is the perfect opportunity to strike.
But all of these can only happen if the other Ottoman factions believe that Antonius De’Ricci did not appear on the frontline.
"Those who are too kind cannot command a troop into battle, Helios." Antonius comforted softly.
"Your Majesty..." Helios turned back. "I know."
Antonius gave another pat on Helios’ shoulder; he knows that this middle-aged man can be trusted.
...
The six thousand men embarked at around three in the morning.
Although Hamza Pasha is already long gone, but these Ottoman Janissaries guarding the garrisons still maintained a high level of discipline and order, all thanks to the bunch of junior commanders trained by the deceased pasha and the new set of regulations by him.
It is a relatively short march from the gathering point to the Ottoman lines, but a risky one.
The scouts and spies of Apostolos have already made it clear on the whereabouts of Ottoman guard posts and hidden sentries thanks to the corrupt Ottoman court which is still living in the fantasies of their past lives and glory, and thus the Roman troops are able to march the most of the trails without being detected, but new problems emerges as they approach the well-guarded Ottoman lines; there are night patrols everywhere guarding the various forts and towers, the work of Hamza Pasha obviously.
The Romans have come this far, depending on nothing but discipline; They marched for three hours without any form of lighting, not a single torch can be lit. The horses have both their muzzle and hooves covered with cloth, and the wheels of the heavy siege machine and carts all covered in goat skins. The entire army marched like a ghost, without sound, without light, thanks to Helios’ hard effort in the past five years of nothing but training that grinded a similar level of discipline into the hearts and minds of every soldier.
If it is the peasant army of the Britons and Alermanians they would be dispersed before they could reach the destination.
"Your Majesty." Helios approached Antonius, who is dressed as a staff lieutenant. "What do we do now?"
"Your highness." Antonius replied, in a strict tone. "You are the general, you are in charge of leading this army, do not ask me anything about the process, I only want to see the results laid before me."
"Yes sir."
Helios went back to the commanding post on a hilltop, gathered his field officers and gave a few orders. The field officers acknowledged the orders and went back to their post.
It is already five plus in the morning, just another hour before the sun rises from the horizon, a time when the patrols are the most reflexed after another whole night of on guard thinking that it is just another peaceful night with nothing going on, and it would be just another hour before the current patrol can hand over the guard posts to the next batch of guards and go back to sleep.
"İdrar yapmaya gideceğim"
"Tamam"
The Ottoman soldier walked to the edge of the fort walls, pulled down his trousers, placed his bow to a side, and started humming the tune of Uşşak as he start off doing his business spreading water and nutrition to the Earth.
He seemed to spot something with the dim light of the horizon, something is moving before him.
The soldier constricted his gaze, straining for improved clarity, yet it appeared as though the cosmos itself was undergoing a startling metamorphosis before him. The once desolate expanse of no man’s land unexpectedly burst into an incandescent panorama as one torch after another was kindled, unveiling an endless sea of obsidian armour, their multitude washing over the barren land. The blades’ ethereal gleam under the torchlight resembled celestial bodies in a darkened sky, their silent promise of danger a stark contrast to the warmth of the fire.
The soldier is frightened as he holds his thing, while the water curve through mid-air started going in an inconsistent line as he started shivering vigorously.
