"...As Winter's cold rains fell on the shores of the Mediterranean, the warriors of most nations gathered around the hearth rather than mustered for war. However, the Franks, despite the pall of defeat hanging over their campaigns this year, doggedly marched south. Under the pine trees of the far north, the Slavic tribes honed their axes and went in search of plunder. And the Emperor Justinian's trusted general, the eunuch Narses, ignored the Mediterranean's capricious Winter winds and put to sea in the Byzantine fleet..."
Franks finally taste victory
The year of our Lord 528 had not been kind to the Franks. Their frequent attempts to seize the Burgundian kingdom had failed and their province of Aquitania had been lost to the Visigoths from Spain. The war leader Dagobert vowed that the year would not end without Aquitania reconquered. He roused the reluctant Franks from their winter hearths and led them on cold marches southwards. The Visigoths were taken unawares, and mounted only a feeble defense. Dagobert sent them reeling back across the border in disarray. Though the draught was long delayed, the vintage of victory tasted no less sweet to the Franks.
To rouse a sleeping Saxon
The pine forests along the Baltic shores were muffled in a blanket of snow. However, beneath the sagging branches, men marched. The Slavs were looking for new lands, and the war leader Ratislav thought he knew where to find them. Their Saxon neighbors had burst into action in Spring, mounting two invasions. However, since then, they had been quiet. All through Summer and Autumn their kingdom had dozed. Ratislav was sure he'd catch them sleeping before their fireplaces, now, and launched a strike into Germania. Like bears roused from hibernation, though, the Saxons fought back furiously. In a see-saw battle, that first looked like a Saxon victory, Ratislav finally prevailed. The Saxon general Heinrich reluctantly retreated, leaving the province to the Slavs.
Nile victory for Narses
Narses assured the Emperor Justininan the risks of a naval invasion of Egyptus were minimal. General Martinus' army was well-trained and fresh, while the Vandals had been campaigning all year. So, the Byzantine fleet sailed, landing shortly after a Vandal fleet had arrived with the battle-tested General Huneric and a fresh -- and stronger -- force. Martinus deployed his spearmen in the center and his cavalry on the wings, which were protected from superior Vandal numbers by the Nile on the left and a palm grove on the right. The confident Vandals launced an immediate charge. Huneric's horsemen began to break through along the Nile, but met disaster in the center. Martinus' thin line of spearmen threw back and routed the Vandal horsemen. The center crumbled and the Byzantine cavalry poured through to exploit what became a major victory and reconquest of the province of Egyptus.