Year: 680 AD
Eastern Roman Empire
Adrianopolis
Twoweeksago
The Eastern Roman Empire was close to solving the problem of the borders of Western and Eastern Europe, the Caesarian Emperor Leo I and the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine IV was in the city of Adrianople, a force of the Germanic-Hun coalition of about 40 thousand soldiers for a great direct attack on Constantinople, however enemy scouts spotted that the two Roman emperors were in Adrianople and so they focused on taking the city and arrest the two emperors, forcing a white peace with the Romans.
Leo I and Constantine IV had about 5,000 soldiers to defend the city while reinforcements from Constantinople did not arrive.
Among these figures were the future Caesarian emperor Leo II and Flavius Belisarius' great-grandson, Titus Belisarius, the first Magister Militum of the Caesarian Empire.
The city gates are opened for a messenger to enter the city and go to Leo I and says:
"My lord, this letter was sent by Legatus Legionis Commodus Tiberius of the 4th Caesarean Legion, it is about the situation of the Caesarean troops in Italy." says the messenger.
Leo takes the letter, opens it and reads what was written.
Your Highness, at the time of writing this letter, the last great Lombard force has been destroyed at the Battle of Verona and their king has been killed in the aftermath of the battle. The remaining Lombards fled beyond our territory, the homeland of our ancestors is free from the savage Germanic hands, however, there is a certain estrangement among the Eastern Romans and Western Romans, as a personal account I saw an Eastern Roman soldier extorting peasants here speaking on behalf of Emperor Constantine IV, who as a military general commander of Northern Italy, I reprimanded him and sent him to prison, it seems that the fact that many soldiers are speaking Greek is creating a certain tension on the Latin-speaking side and the Greek speaking side , but that won't be a problem for now, the Eparch's reinforcements are about to arrive in Constantinople and when this letter arrives, the reinforcements will be on their way to Adrianople and will help you to contain the last great barbarian force in Europe, I have done my part now I hope the Eparch's reinforcements are experienced soldiers and not peasants forcibly recruited to fight for their lords .
Legatus Legionis of the 4th Caesarian Legion, Commodus Tiberius.
Upon reading the contents of the letter, Leo was relieved at the news of the victory of the Caesarian and Eastern Roman forces in the Italian Peninsula and told Emperor Constantine IV:
"Italy is free from the Lombards once and for all, now we need to defeat the others who still resist this war to end it once and for all, the barbarians will fear the strength of the Romans once again." Leo said.
The Eastern Roman military, seeing that such tensions were growing in Italy, there were rumors of a probable attempt at secession from the Western Romans and the formation of an independent kingdom, then Leo replied in Greek:
"Listen, I know many of you think of the Western Romans, and as a descendant of a Western Roman, I say that we have a chance to rebuild the Roman Empire, but there's no point in being verbose and having useless discussions, as most Eastern Romans are, we deny something so low as to be treated as a slave of one's own land, the Dux of Italy and the Eparch of Ravenna is sowing revolts and will reap a total secession from Italy or worse, will choose the Franks as their saviors from the tyranny of the Eastern Romans, if my ancestor decided to stay in Syracuse, today would be a mere illiterate peasant who would work like a convict to be treated in the worst way by a people who also call themselves Roman but treat the Romans as if they were Sarmatians or Scythians, this is a piece of advice: When you take everything from a person they will go to the limit, imagine what thousands of Western Romans think when few Greek-speaking Eastern Romans, extort you to the maximum and leave nothing for the Western Romans? Do not expect to harvest dates, you will reap a Nika Revolt throughout the Italian Peninsula. This is a piece of advice, avoid unnecessary fights, while in the East, the Crescent Moon expands every day and could become an existential threat to the Romans in the Old World and the other Christian kingdoms of Western Europe," Leo replied.
The room fell into deep silence, no soldier responded to Leo and they kept their heads down, proving once again that their gray hair showed an unmatched wisdom compared to others rulers of Western Europe and Eastern Europe.
Adrianople
Now
It was another sunny day in Adrianople, when the sounds of horses' trots made the ground shake and soon the alarms were sounded and the civilians locked themselves in their homes.
Leo was already ready for battle, at 70 years of age he still had the vigor of a man of fifty, the reinforcements of the Eparch of Ravenna for some mystery did not arrive and Leo was already expecting a "delay", since the Eparch of Ravenna, wanted to be Roman Emperor of the East and this would be the perfect chance to ascend to the throne, but it seems that the Eparch's plans failed, since the army that was in Adrianople was nothing more and nothing less than the 20th Caesarian Legion, the Black Wolf Legion, the legion of the Caesarian emperors, led by the prince Leo Flavius Gaius and the Legatus Legionis Titus Belisarius.
The Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine IV was with some military men and they just watched as the Caesarian military was assembling the Destructors and forming position for the battle that would happen.
About 30 minutes passed, when the Roman soldiers were ready for battle and Leo began a speech:
"More than 302 years ago, the Roman Emperor Valens died in the battle of Adrianople fighting against the Goths, led by the Gothic king Fritigern, after this battle the Roman Empire entered a cataclysm and its western part fell. But we, descendants of the Western Romans must To avenge the death of the Roman Emperor Valens and other emperors who fell to the Germanic barbarians, these savages as well as the Carthaginians need to be put in their proper place.You see? Huns, Germanic tribes and Slavs together against the greatest civilization of the West, they use the lowest methods to win, but know that the Eparch of Ravenna is a traitor and must being killed for trying to ascend the Eastern Roman throne in a time of war.Let's show that quality surpasses quantity and we will defeat these barbarians and show the known world that Roman civilization is not dead and just like the Phoenix it revives from the ashes! Let's go! Barbari Delenda Est!" Leo said.
The Caesarian army shouted with euphoria after Leo's speech and in return, the barbarian coalition advanced a few meters sending the Avar and Germanic cavalry, the battle of Adrianople began.
Leo then explained to his son and Tiberius Belisarius how they would fight:
"Tiberius, you lead the right flank which who will fight against the Avar and Germanic cavalries, my son Prince Leo will lead the left flank containing the Destructors who will prevent the siege towers from besieging the city and I will lead the central flank that will contain the advances of the enemy central force, now go to your respective locations and we will destroy these barbarians." Leo explained.
The Avar and Germanic cavalry were about seventy meters away when Prince Leo ordered:
"Grenadiers and gunslingers! Shoot the barbarians!!!" Prince Leo ordered.
Grenades and revolver shots caused the barbarian cavalry to collapse in half and the shots caused enormous psychological damage that prevented the enemy cavalry from being used in battle after this confrontation.
On the left flank, the Destructors swept away entire enemy formations, with their shots in addition to destroying the siege towers, Titus Belisarius ordered the soldiers:
"Keep using your revolvers and be sure to bring more Spherical Stones to place on the Destructors!Victory belongs to us!" ordered Titus.
On the central flank, Leo fired his revolver and the other gunslingers shot as if they were in a target shooting tournament, enemy morale plummeted, Leo then ordered:
"Whoever of you kills the most barbarians will receive around 2 boxes of New Cyprus cigars, 30 gold coins, 150 silver coins, 300 bronze coins and 1,500 copper coins at the end of this battle will receive this award to show the value this soldier will have and the others will earn 1 gold coin and 50 silver coins for their deed of serving the Caesarian Empire in the land of our ancestors." Leo ordered.
The battle of Adrianople had only begun a few minutes before, but there was already a clear winner, and it was the Roman side. The battle would last about six hours and would end with the entire barbarian army massacred and the leader of the Avar Khanate was imprisoned along with the other Germanic and Slavic leaders who signed a peace treaty and all the former provinces of the Roman Empire, both the western and eastern were reconquered by the Eastern Romans and would take charge of those provinces.
The Fourth Lombard War officially ended and with that, the Lombards would never set foot in Italy again and so Italy remained Roman throughout the Middle Ages, as did the future merchant republics Romans will be a big problem for the future Holy Roman Empire, the future Kingdom of France and the Spanish Empire, all because the Sons of Theodosius saved the Western Romans of extinction.