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Post by Adrian on Feb 9, 2008 9:00:43 GMT -5
As the 600 warships leaved Athens to attack the shores of Illyria, they finally arrived after a long journey. However quick the ships traveled and strong they were in use of combat, in front of the ships was a battering ram. A dangerous equipment that easy could sink any ship by crashing into them, the war ships was specially designed for combat at sea but also in carrying 100 man in each.
When they entered the Adriatic Sea, they could see the Roman Empire on the one side as the Illyrian kingdom laid on the other. It was toward the Illyrians they were heading, but while they came closer the sight of harbors were seen in distance. With 60 000 well trained infantry men on board the 600 ships, they went straight towards them.
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Post by Kai on Feb 9, 2008 9:11:31 GMT -5
((The ships have already made it there, well I posted earlier that they did any way))
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Post by Adrian on Feb 9, 2008 10:10:35 GMT -5
(Oh okey, changed my post now.)
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Post by Kai on Feb 9, 2008 13:10:05 GMT -5
The Approaching navy was seen coming in the distance and the alarm bells were rung. The Levy and Thegns ran to the docks preparing to fight them. Archers from the levy got fire arrows ready and were preparing to burn down the enemy. Why the Athenians were coming to attack were a mystery appart from the fact they were allied with Rome Illyria had done nothing to them. Regardless of that they prepared to kill them all.
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Post by Adrian on Feb 10, 2008 10:23:21 GMT -5
As the Athenians saw the enemy preparing on the harbor in front of them, they decided to stop and wait. The commander of the fleet knew that within short time the entrance to the sea would soon be taken away from the enemy, victory was close. Far out of archer range they watched, wondering what would happen now as they wouldn't attack. While the ships waited for something to happened, an army of 40 000 Athenian cavalry from the south appeared. Since the moment the ships had gone, also they had followed along the coast. Now in total there was 100 000 Athenians to fight the Illyrians at the harbor, in great speed the horse riders rode towards them. With the enemy attention drawn away from the ships, it would be easy for them to enter.
Great fighters all Athenians were, but also wise in use combat. While the 40 000 men rode from south against the city, the 600 ships with 60 000 infantry waited for their moment to attack. The riders were all fighters, with shield, spear and sword they carried as only trained with it they was. None of the Athenians used bow and arrow in combat, mostly cause they believed it was unfair and not honorable.
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Post by Kai on Feb 10, 2008 12:10:18 GMT -5
Now that the Athenian cavalry were arriving The levy and thegns blocked the streets with funiture and carts while they split the men into two parts. If the enemy boats came they would light them up with fire arrows and greek fire. and if they docked they would be met by a solid spear wall. There was no honorable way to fight you just fight and die thinking your god(s) will save you.
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Post by Adrian on Feb 10, 2008 18:20:59 GMT -5
In great speed the cavalry rode toward the city, 40 000 they were and easy they would charge down the enemy if not they were good protected. As the Illyrians placed up blocks in the road by furnitures and carts, the Athenians quickly changed direction to ride around the harbor. However as they came with wide shields and spear, they also carried swords in their belt but as well some torches to throw. When close they rode to the borders of the city, they threw the fire onto the roof of the houses and the blocks in the road. With it lighted, the flames soon spread further into the city port. Soon they all would burn or be killed by smoke, even hiding could not stop them now. While the people inside tried to block them out, the riders quickly found a weak spot to ride in. Those who still tried to stop them, was slayed down even the city soon would be in panic by the fire who spread.
From the sea, the ships saw what happened. Still with the archers waiting on them with fire arrows, they decided to take the risk. Fast as the warships of Athens were, it headed in great speed towards the harbor and with a smash it crashed into it. Even the archers fired on the ships, the Greeks knew that the fire they used would not be able to stop with water. To turn them out, they used blankets. Soon as some came ashore, the troops started moving to kill the archers in groups. With the cavalry from behind and infantry from the front, it would not take long before the enemy was slain.
The infantry who survived, covered them self with the round shields they owned as spears were ready to kill on order, the courage and strength they had were greater then ever. Since the battle against the invasion from Persia, only 300 Spartans had managed to kill many thousand men. However Athenians were not much different, they had same traditions but still Sparta was greater. For Greeks it was a glory to die in battle, cause honor it gave the family in times to come.
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Post by Kai on Feb 12, 2008 3:12:28 GMT -5
When the cavalry broke through the rest of the men and archers fell back to the center of the port which was made of stone so fire proof they were safe from the fire. The men made a solid wall of spears and shields like they were trained to. There was no way around this shield wall the Athenians had to come through the kill zone to get out of the town. The surviving archers got onto the roofs with spears as well as bows so they could stab anyone who tried to climb up, they then picked up large paving stones, bricks tiles and the remaining greek fire pots. The shield wall was thick and strong no one could break through, with no where to retreat to the men were not going to flee. As soon as the Athenians came within arrow range 4000 arrows fired at them at a steep angle so it would fall upon their undefended heads. When they went into the melee the archers would start dropping the paving stones and then the greek fire pots which would kill hundreds of people at a time, they waited for for the Athenians.
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Post by Adrian on Feb 13, 2008 18:05:11 GMT -5
Before the Athenians could engage fully with the enemy they stopped some meters away from them, the houses made of wood burned and smoked the area with a deadly stench. However as the Illyrians were to shoot from the houses made of stone and the warriors gathered in a circle of the city, the wagons around who blocked the roads in and out of the harbor city, it quickly burned to pieces. This gave the Athenians a way out, everything made of wood burned, but the shields they carried protected them well against fire as also arrows from the enemy.
Fast the riders rode out into the open field together with the infantry who had gone ashore, some had died but many survived. As they managed to flee, they from distance could see the city burning in brutality while the smoke poisoned the men inside. Suddenly as all Athenians were safe and the Illyrians dying by fire, a messenger from Rome appeared. It gave news about the Illyrians had given up, the war was over. With those news given, the Athenians decide to leave back to their home. Illyria was free from war, as a part of the Roman Empire it had become.
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