Georgia: Against All Odds IV

On July 1, 1453, King Giorgi VII officially declared war on the Golden Horde. He'd only just arrived in Alania with the army and was still in the process of integrating the new mercenaries with the regular troops when scouts reached him with news that the Golden Horde was raising troops in Astrakhan. With some luck, the king hoped to be able to march in and disrupt the enemy troops before they were fully prepared for battle.

Out of courtesy the king had sent word to Ak Koyunlu and Shirvan who had pledged to join us in any war that might arise. Little help had been expected from them however, and sure enough, they quickly sent replies to the effect that they could not commit to any action at this time.

On the 25th of July the first battle was joined. 3,000 men had crossed the border into Circassia, engaging our mercenary forces there. Unfortunately, our men had still not yet finished organizing, particularly those who had just arrived from the capital. By August 4th, the mercenaries broke, fleeing towards Alania and Imereti. The invading army settled in for a siege in Circassia.

The mercenary army in Circassia runs before the invading army

Meanwhile, once the king reached Astrakhan, he left half his army in siege there while he pushed on into Burtasia with the remaining troops (according to plan). On the 16th of August he came up against a newly formed enemy regiment and routed them with few losses. Left with control of the surrounding steppes, he too settled in for a siege.

Seeing that this promised to be a long and bloody war, in early September I hired (on the king's authority) Erekle Gegechkori to provide advice on military matters. This would prove to have a quickly felt positive effect on the men's morale. Being a man of some renown, Gegechkori also brought some measure of international prestige with him. Given the benefits he provided, his fee was one we were happy to pay, particularly with a treasury flush with newly minted coin.

The tradition and prestige gain were actually completely separate from hiring Gegechkori, but it fit in well with the story. The benefit actually came from completing a mission of increasing the size of my army. Unfortunately, the next mission will require building ships... not likely to happen until after the war. Note the sieges in Astrakhan and Burtasia.

Late October saw a counter-attack against the king's army by an equal-sized enemy force. With the help of one of the two regiments from the siege at Astrakhan, they were turned back with heavy losses, leaving the king still in command of the siege in Burtasia.

In early December, under the recommendation of Gegechkori, I gave the orders for the 5,000 man army that had been assembling at the capital in Imereti to move out into Alania. The original intent was for them to break the siege in Circassia, but reports from the king seemed to indicate that the enemy was raising troops, and he feared being overrun with superior numbers. From Alania, our new army would push in the enemy capital in Sarai. This would cut off the besieging army in our territory while bringing additional forces to bear on the enemy in their own home provinces.

I feared for our troops, marching through the mountains in mid-winter, but Gegechkori assured me that additional men would be assembled in Alania to make up the losses.

At the beginning of the new year, I sat down to review the progress of the war with Gegechkori.

The war report. Note the enemy armies in Bogutjar, Sarai, and laying siege in Circassia. Note also that we still have 6,027 more men in our manpower pool which can be used for reinforcements or new regiments.

Messengers from our armies in enemy territory indicated that they'd been winning wars, which was more than I could say for the home front. Gegechkori reassured me, however, that the invading army in Circassia was making very little if any progress against the walls in Circassia. He estimated that the king would soon take Burtasia, and Astrakhan would surely not be far behind. In addition, our forces were more numerous than those of our enemies, yet thanks to the hiring of mercenaries, we still had plenty of men from which to draw reinforcements and new regiments.