Reggio, A Crusader Kings AAR - Chapter 5: Trapani
LJ Cut for Length and Pictures.
While my own fortunes were recovering, the Duke of Apulia had allied with the Shiekdom of Trapani. He had obviously divined my plans to reunify Sicily under Christianity and feared that I would amass enough power to... what? At the time, as much as I may have been angry with him, I would never dare to challenge his lordship over Apulia and Calabria. Those were his lands, and he was welcome to them for perpetuity.
His alliance with the infidel would not deter me. Spy Master William estimated that the Shiek could muster around between nine and eleven hundred men. Our plan was to lead an assault by land and by sea against Trapani. Marshall Humphrey would lead the nearly formed Syracuse Regiment along the coastal road, through the Shiekdom of Palermo, while I took Reggio's regiment and landed by sea. The Syracuse regiment's goal would be the city of Marsala while my own troops would make a landing a day's march north of Trapani.
The plan was not without flaws, but Spy Master William had learned that Shiek Ayyub ibn Ziri of Palermo was still in mourning over the death of his second son Sharif. He had arranged for evidence implicating Ibn al-Halwas, Sheik Trapani, in the tragic death of Sharif. William believed that with such evidence in his possession Ayyub would not move to rescue his fellow Muhammedan in Trapani.
War was declared on September 1st. Duke Apulia soon made his own declaration and mobilized his own forces. Battle was joined between Sheik Trapani and Marshall Humphrey on November 2nd. It lasted nearly a week, claiming hundreds of lives on both sides. Marshall Humphrey's forces were victorious. It was December 1st when my forces made their landing. Marshall Humphrey had already secured the city of Marsala and was beginning to march north.
Our forces acted in tandem according to the plan we had developed, and soon the castle at Trapani was encircled and besieged. In the following week my brother marched two regiments through Sheik Palermo's land. At the same time, Ibn al-Halwas had rallied his men and sought to relieve his fortress. The majority of his men broke and ran soon after engaging nearly five thousand soldiers of Christ.
On January 25th, Spy Master William saw a group of men lowering sacks to a small group of Apulian ducal soldiers. I did not know what to make of it until the morrow when Duke Apulia announced that he was finished saving his war mongering brother and had made peace with the heathens. His army began its trip home, having received the full contents of Trapani's coffers.
The confusion of his troops withdrawing allowed the defenders to resupply and reinforce the castle. The siege had to be restarted.
My territory is far from rich, and the time lost in re-sieging the castle cost me considerably. Once again, my brother had earned my ire. We were blood! Kin! And yet he betrayed me, in fact this time, not merely in intention. I would never forget this. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, brother? Shame on me. You will not get another chance.
During the nearly month-long peace my brother fostered, Trapani had rebuilt his army, and the third battle of Trapani began on the morning of February 20th, 1072. The brutal fighting would continue until March 8th, and end in our victory. Once again, we began to lay a siege.
On May 22nd, Shiek Ibn al-Halwas surrendered to me. His only condition was that any Muslim women and children be free to depart his former lands. I agreed, and added that he and any men were free to go. He was not the object of my anger any longer, so why be cruel to him?
I opened the prophetic book. The fourth Quatrain:
Two times put high, two times put low
Will cause its realm to hold in peace and union
To prepare for a journey torments the first offspring
Nimes, Toulouse perish in water, the market to collapse
I was not, at the time, entirely sure of what this could mean. Though I did recognize that I had triumphed twice, and twice been betrayed. Would I make peace with my brother? Would someone else kill my brothers and myself? If only I had the benefit of hindsight in those days. If only...
While my own fortunes were recovering, the Duke of Apulia had allied with the Shiekdom of Trapani. He had obviously divined my plans to reunify Sicily under Christianity and feared that I would amass enough power to... what? At the time, as much as I may have been angry with him, I would never dare to challenge his lordship over Apulia and Calabria. Those were his lands, and he was welcome to them for perpetuity.
His alliance with the infidel would not deter me. Spy Master William estimated that the Shiek could muster around between nine and eleven hundred men. Our plan was to lead an assault by land and by sea against Trapani. Marshall Humphrey would lead the nearly formed Syracuse Regiment along the coastal road, through the Shiekdom of Palermo, while I took Reggio's regiment and landed by sea. The Syracuse regiment's goal would be the city of Marsala while my own troops would make a landing a day's march north of Trapani.
The plan was not without flaws, but Spy Master William had learned that Shiek Ayyub ibn Ziri of Palermo was still in mourning over the death of his second son Sharif. He had arranged for evidence implicating Ibn al-Halwas, Sheik Trapani, in the tragic death of Sharif. William believed that with such evidence in his possession Ayyub would not move to rescue his fellow Muhammedan in Trapani.
War was declared on September 1st. Duke Apulia soon made his own declaration and mobilized his own forces. Battle was joined between Sheik Trapani and Marshall Humphrey on November 2nd. It lasted nearly a week, claiming hundreds of lives on both sides. Marshall Humphrey's forces were victorious. It was December 1st when my forces made their landing. Marshall Humphrey had already secured the city of Marsala and was beginning to march north.
Our forces acted in tandem according to the plan we had developed, and soon the castle at Trapani was encircled and besieged. In the following week my brother marched two regiments through Sheik Palermo's land. At the same time, Ibn al-Halwas had rallied his men and sought to relieve his fortress. The majority of his men broke and ran soon after engaging nearly five thousand soldiers of Christ.
On January 25th, Spy Master William saw a group of men lowering sacks to a small group of Apulian ducal soldiers. I did not know what to make of it until the morrow when Duke Apulia announced that he was finished saving his war mongering brother and had made peace with the heathens. His army began its trip home, having received the full contents of Trapani's coffers.
The confusion of his troops withdrawing allowed the defenders to resupply and reinforce the castle. The siege had to be restarted.
My territory is far from rich, and the time lost in re-sieging the castle cost me considerably. Once again, my brother had earned my ire. We were blood! Kin! And yet he betrayed me, in fact this time, not merely in intention. I would never forget this. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, brother? Shame on me. You will not get another chance.
During the nearly month-long peace my brother fostered, Trapani had rebuilt his army, and the third battle of Trapani began on the morning of February 20th, 1072. The brutal fighting would continue until March 8th, and end in our victory. Once again, we began to lay a siege.
On May 22nd, Shiek Ibn al-Halwas surrendered to me. His only condition was that any Muslim women and children be free to depart his former lands. I agreed, and added that he and any men were free to go. He was not the object of my anger any longer, so why be cruel to him?
I opened the prophetic book. The fourth Quatrain:
Two times put high, two times put low
Will cause its realm to hold in peace and union
To prepare for a journey torments the first offspring
Nimes, Toulouse perish in water, the market to collapse
I was not, at the time, entirely sure of what this could mean. Though I did recognize that I had triumphed twice, and twice been betrayed. Would I make peace with my brother? Would someone else kill my brothers and myself? If only I had the benefit of hindsight in those days. If only...