Chapter 286: 285: Advancing into Southern Egypt

Arethas stood on a hilltop above his army. He had achieved much in his campaign to reconquer North Africa for the Byzantine Empire throughout the last year. With the overwhelming support the Empire's forces had received from Austria in the form of material aid, the Byzantine soldiers were now a significant force, armed in the era of pike shot. 

The Falconet cannons proved exceptionally effective against the enemy fortifications. However, it took longer to bring down a castle wall with the 1 pound cannonballs compared to the 12 lb explosive shells that Berengar utilized. If repeatedly fired at a concentrated area, it was still enough to bring down a wall far quicker than the traditional methods available. 

With the Northernmost regions of Egypt and Lybia captured from the Mamluke Sultanate, Arethas had taken a defensive stance while waiting for reinforcements from the Empire. The reason for this was simple; he wanted more men by his side as he pushed into the fertile lands of the Nile and conquered the remainder of Egypt.

Egypt was once the breadbasket of the Roman Empire; because of this, it was a strategic location, and whoever controlled it was sure to see significant prosperity. Arethas was ordered not to return to Constantinople until all of Egypt and Lybia had been reclaimed. 

Today was the day his reinforcements had arrived, clad in mirror-pattern armor, and armed with pikes and firearms; they presented a significant threat to the Mamluke Sultanate, who had failed to counter the new tactics devised by Berengar and given to the Empire. 

Arethas had achieved endless victories against his enemies in Egypt. He was confident that with the arrival of thousands of new soldiers, he could push into the rest of Egypt and seize it in its entirety within the following year. 

He was currently observing his armies beginning to march south; in total, there were 25,000 men in his army. This was the largest army that the Byzantines had fielded in the last twenty years, and there was only one man to thank for this.

Duke Berengar von Kufstein, without his support, these troops would be nothing more than peasant levies with little to no armor, and at best, spears in their hands. However, thanks to Berengar's material aid, and military advisors, the Byzantine Army had rapidly expanded into a professional force, armed with weapons and armor second only to the Grand Austrian Army. 

Though Arethas knew the rising debt that the Empire had owed to the man in question, it was to a startling degree and was beginning to weigh on his conscience. Though they could afford to repay it with the recapture of Egypt and Lybia, it would undoubtedly cost them a large chunk of their spoils. 

Arethas sighed heavily as he regretted his life decisions; if only he had attempted to convince the Emperor to marry Honoria off to Berengar, things might not have ended this way. The Byzantine Royal family had given up searching for Honoria, declaring the lost princess dead, and holding a massive state funeral for the girl. 

Arethas was forced to stay in North Africa and thus could not even attend the funeral of his goddaughter. Because of this, he had been desperate to achieve results in the shortest timespan possible so that he could return to Constantinople and pay his respects to the missing princess.

However, now he did not have time to think about that. Instead, he climbed onto his mount and rode off towards his army, whose presence was growing distant as they marched into the sands of Egypt. 

Before long, Arethas caught up with his soldiers, who had marched for some time; after doing so, he spoke with his officers. However, shortly after that, a rider came forth and reported the situation ahead.

"The Mamlukes have blocked the way ahead! We must prepare for battle!"

With this, Arethas sighed before nodding his head. As such, he began to give out orders for the Byzantine forces to prepare their ranks. By now, the Byzantine soldiers, for the most part, were veterans, and the recruits were merged into the ranks of the veteran soldiers so that they would have the proper support they needed to be effective in combat.

After forming their lines, the Byzantines began to advance into the fray while in formation. The army marched for a few more miles before the Byzantine forces came across the armies of the Mamluke sultanate. Despite being defeated at every turn, the Mamlukes still bravely fought on. 

Though their Empire existed further westward, Egypt and Lybia were the core of their nation; without it, they would quickly become a shadow of their former power. As such, they had begun using any means necessary to combat the growing tide of the Byzantine forces. 

The Falconet cannons were set up in the background and began to pelt the Mamluke army with their 1 lb cannonballs. Though they were nonexplosive, the fact that these solid metal balls rained down upon them, and tore their way through the mamluke torsos caused a great deal of panic, and confusion among the ranks of the Mamluke Army. 

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Under the cover of cannon fire and without fear in their eyes, the Byzantine soldiers moved forward until they could see the whites in their enemy's eyes. While marching arrows rained down upon them, and yet they did not falter while being pelted by the projectiles. 

For the most part, their vitals were protected by the armor provided by Austria, and as such, few deaths occurred as they kept marching under their orders. Any greenhorn soldier who began to panic was quickly deterred from doing anything stupid by the veterans in their ranks. 

Eventually, the Byzantines were close enough to fire off effective shots; as such, they lowered their arkebuses and aimed before firing off a volley into the ranks of the Mamluke sultanate, who charged at them in an attempt to break their line of fire.

In doing so, the Mamluke forces ran headfirst into a field of lead balls, smashing through their defenses and penetrating their bodies, sending blood, bone, and sinew in every direction. The moment the arkebusiers fired their shots, they began to reload, whereas the nearby pikeman began to advance and deter the Mamluke soldiers.

Even though the Mamlukes had gathered every man and boy that could bear arms within a hundred-mile radius, the vast majority of their troops were simply peasants conscripted into fighting; the moment the first volley was fired, these levies began to break ranks and flee.

Only a few thousand Mamluke veterans remained behind; however, compared to the 25,000 byzantine solid armies, their might was laughable. This was not the first time the mamlukes had gotten desperate and gathered everyone they possibly could to act as a meat shield to soak up the projectiles used by the Byzantine Arkebusiers.

The Byzantines needed little more than another volley to shred the remaining Mamluke forces to pieces. After all, they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned by the Byzantine Army. The battle was already over before it could reach its zenith, with the mamlukes suffering another humiliating defeat. Seeing yet another victory Arethas gazed upon the death and destruction and gave his troops an order.

"Tend to the wounded and prepare to march within three hours!"

Aside from superficial arrow wounds and a few unlucky souls who had been caught in the throat with Mamluke projectiles, the majority of the Byzantine forces were unscathed in this battle. Mainly because they were fighting against a small number of Mamluke troops, most of them were just conscripts given at best a spear and thrown into the meat grinder. 

The fact that the mamlukes had begun to resort to such tactics was proof that this war would not last much longer. The majority of the Mamluke's troops were crushed in the early battles; now, they could only rely on human wave tactics in an attempt to overrun the Byzantine lines. 

With this small victory, the path towards Southern Egypt was wide open, and Arethas intended to take full advantage of this. As such, his forces had spent three hours resting before they were back on the march. 

Berengar would later receive word of Arethas' efforts in North Africa. The rapid rate that the Byzantine General conquered his enemies' lands was shocking to Berengar. As such, he would have to readjust his timeframe for independence. If the Byzantines won the war before declaring themselves King, they would undoubtedly repay the debt they owed him with the spoils gained from their conquests. 

If this were to happen, Bernegar would lose his opportunity to coerce them into giving him Honoria's hand in marriage. If there was one thing Berengar needed, it was a long-term alliance with the Byzantines, and the only way he could achieve this was through marriage. Though the Byzantines had no way of knowing this, their actions in North Africa would soon have a significant effect on European politics as a whole. 

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