Nation: Imperium Romanorum
Year: 640 Anno Domini
Imperator: Flavius Heracles Augustus...
Year: 640 Anno Domini
Imperator: Flavius Heracles Augustus...
User | Total |
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phoenixfryre | 13 |
Agreed, no room for honor here.I say we fake surrender and slaughter them in the night. We'll write it down in history as it being an honorable battle where the Romans fought them successfully with Mars' might.
Yeah, we can't afford it anyway in this case. It's more trying to survive more than anything.
[X] Plan: The Demon Emperor
- [X] Gather your men and surrender, then in the dark of the night abandon all honour and slaughter the Arabs. For they are few and you many, it would be a stain on the Honour of Roma, but then again. Dead men tell no tales.
-[X] Defend Edessa with 4 Meros (effectively 20k Infantry and 4k Cavalry), you have the defensive advantage and Khalid is reliably going to attack due to the high morale of the string of victories.
-[X] Imperator Focus (Cost 3500) The Imperator is not amused by the loss of Levant to a bunch of unwashed savages from the desert, gather supplies for a push… into Ctesiphon! None shall expect this manoeuvre and the troops accompanied by local Armenian garrisons and auxiliaries can circle around with allied Persians to reclaim the Levant. The feelers are responding positively, the Persians are desperate enough to ally with you, and you are desperate enough to ally with them.
-[X] (Cost 2000 Solidius) The secret Greek Fire is being prepared in Constantinople in the worst case scenario, but the deployment of cheirosiphōn, hand-held fire throwers, is impeded by the current instability of the formula. Rumours of a young alchemist in occupied Heliopolis persist and have reached the Imperator through his spies, you can try and find him through discrete methods.
-[X] Heraklonus is a decent heir, a military prodigy, the boy is not yet as capable as his co-emperor at diplomacy. You should train him to be better at the art of ruling
Edit: So here are my thoughts:
The Empire is on the breaking point, there is no room for honor when survival is at stake. The victors write history, and Rome will win.
Hold, and we will win. The Arabs will soon be surrounded and crushed by the might of two Empires united by a shared enemy.
With our combined military action with the Persians, we effectively have an ally in the region, freeing up border troops for the bold push.
We have the money, and an emergency option for next time might be necessary.
We are about to die from old age. So let us teach the new generation a little before we hit the ground.
Aegyptus is key to the Empire, losing it is unacceptable, and having our men surrender already hinges on us getting enough to overpower them with unarmoured infantry that are used to fighting as heavy infantry seems unwise, even in an ambush. Instead, mobilising forces and hiring experienced cavalry, while having our ally cut them off and prevent retreat would destroy their forces there. This is to prevent them weak-willed Cyrus from blabbing on like a buffoon he's been hinted at and destroy our chances single-handedly. Once that is done, I hope to push and relieve our territories in the Levant while we hold the line in the North.
[X] Plan: Hold the Line (Aegyptus Edition)
This is going to cripple our income but it gives us the best odds at victory although Archon of Ghosts your plan still leaves enough cash left over to ally with the Persians which would be a really good idea right now as a just in case measure.
That'd be the case if I could have 2 Emperor Foci, since otherwise it'd cost 7k.[X] Plan: Hold the Line (Aegyptus Edition)
This is going to cripple our income but it gives us the best odds at victory although Archon of Ghosts your plan still leaves enough cash left over to ally with the Persians which would be a really good idea right now as a just in case measure.
Sup.
The wikipedia article on him wasn't detailed, but he does seem to have shit the bed at a critical moment. I'm still picking this plan over the 'pretend to surrender' one, which is absurd.I thought I should do a public service announcement for those who haven't read the books. Cyrus, Prefect of Aegyptus, is already ready to surrender.
Sup.
The wikipedia article on him wasn't detailed, but he does seem to have shit the bed at a critical moment. I'm still picking this plan over the 'pretend to surrender' one, which is absurd.
The Persians are in just as bad a position as we are, and if they fall the damn Arabs will have a significant power base even if we push them out of our territory. Additionally, we want to scutter their considerable momentum - having Jabalah attack Jerusalem at the same time we launch our offensive should be more than enough to halt their offensives and allow us to regain the initiative. Egypt is tenuous, but picking the Imperator action to boost them with the money addition should be enough to secure a victory. Cyrus is a liability, but so long as we win the battle decisively instead of drawing out a vicious battle of attrition he shouldn't be able to gather any sort of support to surrender.
@Archon of Ghosts @phoenixfryre @Azurath Any suggestions or criticism?
It's a gamble, yes. I'm basically putting the fate of Egypt on the gambit with the garrisons and the emperor action securing us the victory, since I view immediately beginning a counteroffensive and supporting the Persians as just as pressing. However, even if the general dies securing victory I have difficulty seeing the coward trying to tell his army that they just won a battle, now they need to surrender.I'll be rolling for Cyrus' attempt at surrender like OTL but since Aretion is alive he'll be dead if he actually tries to surrender. If Aretion dies in battle though...
It's a gamble, yes. I'm basically putting the fate of Egypt on the gambit with the garrisons and the emperor action securing us the victory, since I view immediately beginning a counteroffensive and supporting the Persians as just as pressing. However, even if the general dies securing victory I have difficulty seeing the coward trying to tell his army that they just won a battle, now they need to surrender.
It seems you're trying to do a lot of things for potentially little gain. Relying only on the Aegyptian garrisons hold the line has 11k infantry, with little cavalry support, try and fight off 4k Arabs, with a good likelihood of reinforcements. Even with higher morale, I fear that it may not be enough. Relieving the besieged Levant is a good step, something that I still am torn about, but the Ghassanids are not good quality soldiers, and I am uncertain of giving them any role beyond support, both to prevent their complete destruction, and because I doubt their capabilities of surviving against a proper Arabian force. As for the Persians... Well, they've already lost most of their army at this point. Now that they're beyond Mesopotamia, they should have decimated most of the Sassanid armies, leaving with at best, a shadow of what they used to be (or at least that was the case historically). That is why I went all in on Aegyptus, because I think that instead of focusing on multiple fronts at the same time will cost us, and that instead we should try to deal with them piecemeal, even if it means that we'll have to eventually face the forces sent East by the Caliph.[X] Plan Overconfidence
-[X] Abandon Arish and Pelousion, empty Bilbies, Babylon and Heliopolis to gather at Memphis. Force the Arabs to battle you before their reinforcements arrive.
--- [X] Empty half of Alexandria's garrison, but once more beware, Cyrus, is only loyal till victory looks plausible.
-[X] Defend Edessa with 4 Meros (effectively 20k Infantry and 4k Cavalry), you have the defensive advantage and Khalid is reliably going to attack due to the high morale of the string of victories.
-[X] He shall march to the besieged cities of Caesarea and Tyre, after regrouping with local forces he is to attack Arab forces in Damascus and Jerusalem. Pushing out the unprepared local defenders and cutting off reinforcements for Khalid.
-[X] (Cost 7000) The Imperator is not amused by the loss of Levant to a bunch of unwashed savages from the desert, gather supplies for a push… into Ctesiphon! None shall expect this manoeuvre and the troops accompanied by local Armenian garrisons and auxiliaries can circle around with allied Persians to reclaim the Levant. The feelers are responding positively, the Persians are desperate enough to ally with you, and you are desperate enough to ally with them.
-[X] Send a letter of encouragement to Strategos Aretion of Aegyptus, your legend is not as strong as it was after the Great War but it is still fairly strong.
--- [X] (Cost 2000) Additionally you can offer a bonus to each man for fighting to defend the food of the Empire and her heart (Constantinople)
The Persians are in just as bad a position as we are, and if they fall the damn Arabs will have a significant power base even if we push them out of our territory. Additionally, we want to scutter their considerable momentum - having Jabalah attack Jerusalem at the same time we launch our offensive should be more than enough to halt their offensives and allow us to regain the initiative. Egypt is tenuous, but picking the Imperator action to boost them with the money addition should be enough to secure a victory. Cyrus is a liability, but so long as we win the battle decisively instead of drawing out a vicious battle of attrition he shouldn't be able to gather any sort of support to surrender.
@Archon of Ghosts @phoenixfryre @Azurath Any suggestions or criticism?
They were intended more as a distractionary force to make the Arabs draw back from Eygpt by threatening Jerusalem, which would let the boosted garrison forces only have to hold against the initial offensive.Relieving the besieged Levant is a good step, something that I still am torn about, but the Ghassanids are not good quality soldiers, and I am uncertain of giving them any role beyond support, both to prevent their complete destruction, and because I doubt their capabilities of surviving against a proper Arabian force.
I'm pretty sure they'll be able to muster something, out of pride if nothing else. Although I wasn't aware the situation had gotten so bad, I thought that if the pressure could be relieved they might be able to use the breathing space to recover or at least put up more of a fight than OTL.As for the Persians... Well, they've already lost most of their army at this point. Now that they're beyond Mesopotamia, they should have decimated most of the Sassanid armies, leaving with at best, a shadow of what they used to be (or at least that was the case historically)
This is actually a good point. My intention was to try and break the uninterrupted string of offensive victories they've had, force the Arabs on the back heel and restore morale to the men. While your plan would guarantee we'd hold Eygpt, I'm aiming for halting, or at least seriously hampering the Caliphate's offensives across the map. Win a victory instead of running damage control.That is why I went all in on Aegyptus, because I think that instead of focusing on multiple fronts at the same time will cost us, and that instead we should try to deal with them piecemeal, even if it means that we'll have to eventually face the forces sent East by the Caliph.