Asia minor consumed by war

As the triparite war between the Romans, Seljuq-turks and the arab Fatimids continues, it seems as if nearly the whole Near East is burning, and no region safe from the onslaught.

In the north-west, the Roman hosts has broken the battlements on the turk-occupied cities of Antiochian Cicilia and Aleppo; the few remaining defenders of the city of Aleppo were finally slaughtered as the walls broke and Roman soldiers swarmed in. It is said that no turk remained alive upon the eve of that day, although the rest of the city was spared. The fate of Cicilia, or Adana, as the turks called it, fared little better: as ancient siege machines from the ancient Roman era were brought to the field, the quickly-built fortifications of the city gave in, and in the following onslaught, thousands of turks were killed, and the final army that guarded the fortress surrendered and were taken capture.

In Mesopotamia, this ancient land of wonders, the majority of the turkish armies marched towards their lost city of Baghdad in a desperate attempt to reclaim it. Skillfully evading the majority of the fatimid troops encamped in the region, the turks attacked Baghdad straight away with arrows and ladders. However, the garrison proved too strong and well-organised for the attackers, and at the end of the day, the attackers withdrew from the city, leaving many of their soldiers broken and dying behind. It is clear that yet another battle shall be seen the next day.

In Persia, however, their fighting fared better. The organised hosts under Caliph Kutalmish made a strong assault against the rebellion-controlled persian city of Shiraz and broke through, slaughtering many persian rebels in the process, their leaders decapitated and their corpses left impaled on long sticks in the town square. The first of turkish victories in a long series of strategic defeats. Surprisingly, however, is that one of the turkish generals, Abdülhamîd Alemdar, has accordingly deserted from the hosts of Caliph Kutalmish, admitted himself to the Shi'a doctrine of Islam, and brought his army with him to join the Fatimid Arabs.

Also, the winds of war also reached the two northern kingdoms of Saqartvelo and Azerbaijan, whose armies clashed together as the latter marched into the qartuli province of Kakheti and broke all defence in that region, paving themselves the way for yet another assault upon the major city of Tblisi.


A persian artist's depiction of the turkish onslaught against the rebels in Shiraz.

[Effects Seljuq empire: -1 unit Mesopotamia, -1 unit Aleppo, -3 units Adana, 1 unit in Persia deserts and joins the Fatimids, -50 gold, +10 prestige for quelling rebellion in Shiraz]
[Effects Byzantine empire: Takes control of Aleppo and Antiochian Cicilia, +10 prestige]
[Effects Fatimid empire: +1 unit of persianised Shiite turks]
[Effects Persian rebellion: -2 units]
[Effects Georgia: -1 unit, -10 gold]