Destiny's shield

slugging it out for months against Persian cavalry in some of the worst terrain you can imagine. The Malwa are killing two birds with one stone. The Persians can't ignore the threat, so they have to divert much of their army from the main campaign in Mesopotamia. And, at the same time, the Malwa will be-'

Germanicus nodded. 'Bleeding the Rajputs white.'

'Exactly.'

Sittas grunted. 'That means the northern expedition isn't something we need to worry about. Not for some time, at least. That'll be up to the Persians to deal with.'

He eyed Irene. 'How big is the Malwa army in Mesopotamia?'

She hesitated, knowing that her next words would be met with disbelief. 'At least two hundred thousand men. Probably more.'

'That's nonsense!' exclaimed Germanicus.

Belisarius overrode him. 'It is not nonsense. Believe it, Germanicus. The Malwa Empire is the one power in the world which can field that big an army. And keep it supplied, so long as they hold Charax. When I was in Bharakuccha, India's great western seaport, I saw with my own eyes the huge fleet of supply ships they were constructing.'

Germanicus' face was pale. 'Two hundred thousand,' he whispered.

'At least,' emphasized Belisarius. 'And they'll have the bulk of their gunpowder units, too. About their only weakness will be in cavalry.'

Irene shook her head. 'Not even that, Belisarius. Not light cavalry, at least. I just got word yesterday that the Lakhmite dynasty has transferred its allegiance from Persia to the Malwa. That gives the Malwa a large force of Arab cavalry-and a camel force that can operate in the desert regions on the right bank of the Euphrates. Which, by the way, seems to be the river which the Malwa are using as their invasion route.'

'Slow going,' commented Hermogenes. 'The Euphrates meanders all over the flood plain. The Tigris would be quicker.'

Belisarius shrugged. 'The Malwa aren't relying on speed and maneuver. They've got a sledgehammer moving up the Euphrates. Once they reach Peroz-Shapur, they can cross over to the Tigris. They'll have the Persian capital at Ctesiphon surrounded.'

'What's the Persian response?' asked Germanicus.

'From what Baresmanas told me,' responded Irene, 'it seems that Emperor Khusrau intends to make a stand at Babylon.'

'Babylon?' exclaimed Cassian. 'There is no Babylon! That city's been deserted for centuries!' He shook his head. 'It's in ruins.'

Irene smiled. 'The city, yes. But the walls of Babylon are still standing. And, by all accounts, those walls are almost as mighty as they were in the days of Hammurabi and Assurbanipal.'

'What are the Persians asking of us?' queried Antonina.

Irene glanced at Chrysopolis. The praetorian prefect had handled that part of the initial discussions with Baresmanas.

'They want an alliance with Rome, and as many troops as we can send to help Khusrau at Babylon.' He nodded to Sittas. 'The Persians do not expect us to help them against the Malwa thrust into their eastern provinces. But they are-well, desperate-to get our help in Mesopotamia.'

'How many troops do they want us to send?' asked Justinian.

Chrysopolis took a deep breath. 'They're asking for forty thousand. The entire Army of Syria, and the remaining twenty thousand from Anatolia and our European units.'

The room exploded.

'That's insane!' cried Sittas. 'That's half the Roman army!'

'It'd strip the Danube naked,' snarled Germanicus. 'Every barbarian tribe in the Balkans would be pouring across within a month!' He turned to Belisarius. 'You can't be seriously considering this proposal!'

Belisarius shook his head. 'No, I'm not, Germanicus. Although I would if I thought we could do it.' Again, Belisarius shrugged. 'But, the simple fact is that we can't. We have to maintain a strong force on the Danube, as you said. And, unfortunately, we have to keep Sittas' army in and around Constantinople. As we all know, the dynasty's hold is still shaky. Most of the nobility would back another coup, if they thought it would succeed.'

Germanicus tugged on his beard. 'At the moment, in other words, we have nothing to send Persia except the existing armies in Syria and Egypt.'

'Not even that,' said Theodora. 'We've got a crisis in Egypt, too.'

She looked to her spymaster. 'Tell them.'

'As you all know,' said Irene, 'the former Patriarch of Alexandria, Timothy IV, was murdered during the Nika insurrection-at the same time as Anthony's predecessor Epiphanios. The culprits were never found, but I'm quite sure it was the work of Malwa assassins.'

'Aided and abetted by ultra-orthodox forces in the Church,' said Justinian forcefully.

Irene nodded. 'After three months of wrangling, the Greek nobility in Alexandria imposed a new Patriarch. An ultra-orthodox monk by the name of Paul. The very next day he reinstated the persecution. Alexandria's been in turmoil ever since. Riots and street fights almost daily, mostly between ultra-orthodox and ultra-Monophysite monks. We just got the news yesterday.'

'What the hell is the Army of Egypt doing?' demanded Germanicus.

'They've sided with the new Patriarch,' replied Irene. 'According to my reports, in fact, the army's commander was Paul's chief advocate.'

'That's General Ambrose, isn't it?' asked Hermogenes.

Irene nodded. Sittas growled:

'I know that bastard. He's not worth a damn on the battlefield. A politician down to his toenails. Ambitious as Satan.'

The praetorian prefect sighed. 'So much for the Army of Egypt. We won't be able to send them to Persia.'

'It's worse than that, Chrysopolis,' stated Belisarius. 'We're going to have to send a military force to Egypt to set the situation straight.'

'You think we should intervene?'

'I most certainly do. Egypt is the largest and richest province of the Empire. In the long run, we're relying on Egypt to be the bastion for our naval campaign in the Erythrean Sea. The last thing we can afford is to have its population riddled with disaffection and rebellion.'

Theodora added her voice. 'I am in complete agreement with Belisarius on this matter.' She nodded toward Cassian. 'At Anthony's recommendation, I'm sending a deacon named Theodosius to replace Paul as Alexandria's Patriarch. He's a moderate Monophysite. A member of the Severan school like Timothy.'

Chrysopolis frowned. 'How are you going to enforce the appointment?'

For the first time since the meeting started, Theodora grinned. But there was not a trace of humor in the expression. 'With a combination of the old and the new. You know of the religious order which Michael of Macedonia has founded? He's offered to send several thousand of them to Egypt, to counter the existing monastic orders.'

'That's fine against other monks in the streets, armed with cudgels,' grunted Hermogenes. 'But the Army of Egypt-'

'Will be dealt with by the Theodoran Cohort,' stated Belisarius.

The announcement brought dead silence to the room. All eyes turned to Antonina.

The little Egyptian woman shrugged. 'I'm all we've got, I'm afraid.'

'Not quite,' said Belisarius. He looked at Hermogenes. 'I think we can spare one of your legions, to give Antonina's grenadiers an infantry bulwark. And I'm going to give her five hundred of my cataphracts for a cavalry force.'

Hermogenes nodded. Frowning, Germanicus looked back and forth between Belisarius and Antonina.

'I would have thought you'd want to use the grenadiers in Persia,' he commented.

Before Belisarius could reply, Theodora spoke up. 'Absolutely not. Other than Belisarius' small unit of rocketeers, Antonina's cohort is our only military force equipped with gunpowder weapons. They've never been in a real battle. I'm not going to risk them in Persia. Not this early in the war.'