"...Seeing the flow of Vandal power along the shores of the Mediterranean, Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered his commanders Belisarius and Justinian into action to staunch it. At the same time, conquered Berbers rose in revolt against their Vandal overlords. Undeterred, the Vandals launched a two-pronged invasion of Italy from their bases in Sicilia and Sardo. In Northern Europe, the Slavs poured through the forests, attempting to swamp the last provinces of the Saxons. Behind them, though, subject Saxons rose in rebellion. Gepids galloped north into Slavic Dneister, too. Summer saw 11 battles raging across the Mediterranean, nine of which involved either the the beset Vandals or Slavs..."
To the Shores of Tripolitania
Called by some Justinian's best commander, General Belisarius had done little to endear him to his emperor, lately. His only recent battle was last year's defeat in Dalmatia by the Ostrogoths. Risking all, though, Belisarius sailed his army to Tripolitania. The outnumbered Vandal commander, Godegisel, did not meet him on the beach. Instead, he collected garrisons of outlying forts and levied recruits until his forces were equal -- then struck at the Byzantine invaders. At first, it appeared the Vandals would overwhelm the Byzantines, as they bent both wings backwards. However, the spearmen in the center hurled back the Vandal horse, breaking the momentum of the attack. Belisarius' superior command and control enabled him to exploit his success in the center quicker than the Vandals could on the wings. "Justinian's Best" emerged with a narrow 9-8 victory, conquering the province of Tripolitania for his lord.
For Pride and Empire
Easily riled by hearing Belisarius labeled the best, the eunuch Narses was determined not to be shown up by his rival. Following his lieutenant Martinus' rout at the hands of the Vandal Huneric in Spring, Narses replaced him with his own, well-rested force for another attempt on Libya. Despite their victory, their Vandal opponents were still not back up to full strength. In a swirling battle that saw both sides claim early success, the Byzantine infantry once again proved invaluable. With support of their archers, they drove off hard-charging Vandal horsemen again and again. Narses' army simply outlasted the tired Vandals, seizing the former Berber province of Libya with an 8-6 victory, and salvaging their commander's pride.
To Catch A Desert Wind
When messengers arrived in the Vandal-conquered province of Tingintania, telling of the Byzantine invasions, the rebel Berbers knew their moment had arrived. Revolt blew through the province like a desert wind. The rebels kept to the spine of the hills, storming isolated garrisons and picking off small parties of Vandals. The warlord Ammatas, ruler of the province, gathered up what forces he had on hand and tracked them down, though. The Ammatas split his army, converging on the rebels in the hills and hemming them in. The lightly-armed Berbers, with no room for maneuver, were cut down to a man. The rebellion was crushed in battle 5-2, and Tingintania remained under Vandal rule.
Whose Prize, Vengeance?
The Vandal warlord Gunderic slapped the backs of his warriors, cheering them as they boarded the vessels. Too long had they endured the attack of the Ostrogoths without reply. Now, they were sailing forth from Sicilia and invading Italy. On the other side of the straits, the Ostrogoth warleader Teias marshaled his forces. He had been transferred here to the boot of Italy after his success against the Byzantines in Dalmatia. The Vandals had repelled every attack his people had mounted. Now, the inevitable was occurring -- the enemy was marching on Italy. When the battle was joined, it was a confused, fragmented affair. A Vandal flank march poured onto the battlefield, adding to the confusion. In the end, the Vandals maintained their mastery of the Ostrogoths, winning 8-6. Teias fought on well after the end and was slain by a Vandal spear as his army scattered.
The Bitter Sting of Defeat
Theodoric the Ostrogoth slammed his fist down on his tent table when he received news of the defeat in the south. Beaten by those Vandal whoresons, again! No more, he vowed. His army was hurrying south, recalled from its march on the Visigoths. Theodoric chose his ground carefully, meeting the Vandals on a battlefield dominated by three steep hills, one in the center and on each flank. His spearmen he sent through the left hand gap, his light troops guarded the center hill, and his horse took position, blocking the right hand gap. He could tell by the reduced Vandal numbers they had a detachment marching on his flank, and deduced it would appear on the right where he saw the Vandal general Heleric. The Vandal horse charged his cavalry, beginning to shove them back out of the gap. His lights fell upon their flank, though, and their line began to crumble. Their flanking force raced onto the field from the right to save them, and was met by his cavalry reserve. The fighting grew fiercer. At one point, he had Heleric surrounded, but the Vandal's bodyguard hurled his men back. His spearmen were slowly driving the Vandal light troops back towards their reserve cavalry, but some of his lights had strayed too far from the hill and were ridden down. The battle hung in the balance, but it was Heleric's troops who seized a narrow 7-6 victory. Theodoric withdrew his army from the field, cursing the Vandals heartily all the way. Tuscia was theirs, although Rome continued to hold out against their siege.
A Lesson for the Master
The Frankish general Dagobert laughed as his army threaded its way through the Segovian hills. Cowards! The Visigoth army he'd beaten in Spring, led by Euderic, continued to run from him, abandoning every fort and town along the way. As the trail of the retreating army grew wider and more distinct, it dawned on him what they were doing. Reinforcements, recruits, levies -- Euderic was collecting them to face him on more equal terms. When battle was finally joined, he saw they had learned new tactics, too. Whenever his men began to push their horsemen back, the cavalry withdrew, only to return upon the pursuing warband's flank. The Visigothic warband didn't even engage, merely watching from a hill as their cavalry and light troops strung out his Frankish foot warriors in disarray. When a warband was isolated, they surrounded and destroyed it. His Franks scored some successes, but in the end Dagobert's ordered a retreat. The Visigoths held the field, an 8-6 victory. He retreated back to Gallaecia, his army relatively intact.
A Fatal Slip in the River
"The Saxons hide behind a river?" Ratislav scoffed. "We shall fix that!" Detaching a third of his force to ford the river upstream, Ratislav ordered an immediate assault with the rest of his army. The outnumbered Saxons were desperate, and rushed forward to meet them on the banks. The fighting was intense, many wounded drowning in the rushing waters. Ratislav began to wish he'd waited for the flanking force to arrive, as several bands of his men fled from the stubborn Saxon shieldwall. A shadow loomed on his left and he turned, feeling an intense pain in his shoulder. He fell, feeling the dark waters close over his head. The Saxons roared at the death of Ratislav, but just then, the flanking force arrived. Still, the Saxons dealt death on every quarter until the Slavs broke into their camp, where their families huddled. The Saxon warriors broke ranks to rush to their defense, and defeat soon followed. The province of Rhenus was conquered in the 6-4 Slavic victory, but at the cost of their warleader Ratislav.
Fall of the House of Saxony
The Saxon general Heinrich had heard the news -- Rhenus had fallen. He knew the savage warleader Santilaus was marching on his army to take Arbor Neri, the last province of Saxony. His men were spooked, and tales circulated that the Slavs were half-bestial minions of the Underworld. As such, he deployed in the clearings, forcing the Slavs to emerge from the protection of their dense forests to attack. They would get a good look at them and see they were only men that could be slain by Saxon axes. Several hours later, though, Heinrich's plan was in ruins. His compact formation had been surrounded by the more mobile Slavs. Beset on all sides, his men fought and died. Heinrich went down in defeat, 6-2. The Slavs had wiped out the last bastion of the Saxon kingdom.
Stamping Out Fires in the Forest
Even as Heinrich's men fell, the Saxon spirit was not completely gone. When Ratislav's army had marched away, revolt had smoldered in Germania. Slavic supply trains were plundered. As the rebellion caught fire, isolated garrisons were taken and butchered. A rebel army soon formed and marched on village after village. They were eventually met by a patched-together Slavic force. When confronted by this army, though, the rebels faltered. The hard-learned lessons of previous defeats were forgotten, and their warbands were outmaneuvered again by the lightly-armed Slavs. The rebels scattered to the deep recesses of the forests to regroup, and speak bold words of another uprising. Germania was secured with the 6-2 victory.
A Wall of Trees
The Slavic rise to power had not gone unnoticed by rival kingdoms. The Ostrogoths, worried about the growing power to their north, knew that war still sputtered between the Slavs and Gepids. A talent of Ostrogothic silver was enough to persuade their ally, the Gepid warleader Asbadus, to invade the Slavic province of Dneister. Although his horsemen felt ill at ease in the forests, they hoped to be able to flush them out and hunt them like deer. Zwentibald, who had faced the Gepids before, knew better. His men either stayed in the woods or anchored their flanks securely on patches that teemed with Slavic warriors. Asbadus tried to batter is way through a clearing, then he tried to circle his way around, but Zwentibald countered his every move. The forest fortress was too difficult to breach, so he withdrew from the field, defeated 8-4, but a talent of silver richer.
Scourge of the Steppes
In the eastern steppes, the remnants of the Hunnic kingdom were reeling. Invaded from the east by the Persians last season, and from the west by the Byzantines, the Hun chieftain Sandal knew a final thrust would come from somewhere. His scouts soon brought word of dust clouds in the east -- the Persians were coming. Sandal chose his battlefield and concealed a strike force on the Persian right flank. Almost immediately after the Persians formed their battleline, it attacked. Sandal closed quickly to support it. The two forces of Hunnic horsemen battered away at the mailed Persians and soon broke through on the right. Light horse archers swarmed through the gap. When the Persian camp fell, Sandal knew the blow dealt to the battleline had been fatal. He stroked his scarred chin in pleasure as he watched the brightly-clad Persians stream from the field in retreat. The province of Kutrigur remained Hunnic, kept firmly in grasp by the 8-3 victory.