The Fearless

He was already betrayed by Russians several times before, after signing that fateful "friendship" pact with them, which riled up all of his Muslim neighbors, - Ottomans, their loyal subjects in Dagestan, and Iranians. He had to fight them all for the last 20 years, on all fronts, instead of a relatively peaceful coexistence he had with them before that. He even expanded his kingdom and acquired a few vassal states to its east and south before he signed this pact with Russia, and before all his neighbors turned onto him for befriending Russians.

And now he had to face the final consequences of his Christian idealism. 40,000 strong Iranian army stood at the gates of his capital city. The day was 9/11, 1795.

 

Chapter 3

Taste of freedom

Sargent Nico Basilauri was too young to remember "little green men" Russians sent to Georgian province of Abkhazia in early 1990s. His dad died fighting them, and he remembered his photo in black frame hanging in their living room ever since he was a kid. His mother did not like talking about it much, as she hoped for a brighter future for him, as well as for the whole of the new generation of Georgian youth.

Yet, here he was, facing torrent of Russian fire on the frontlines of town of Tskhinvali, - another Georgian province where Russians stirred up ethnic tensions. These little green men were not hiding their insignia this time, and came in numbers, - 80,000 regulars, intensive aerial bombardment undeterred by Georgian air defenses, thousands of tanks and artillery. All against 20,000 strong Georgian army, best part of which was not even in Georgia, but fighting in Iraq with Americans.

He looked at his squad. They looked nervous. The enemy lines ahead of them were not clear, it was a mix of ethnic Ossetian paramilitary and Russian "peacekeepers", turned into warmongers in a matter of hours. Bulk of incoming Russian invading army was still amassing at the outskirts of Tskhinvali, waiting for their air force and artillery to clear the way for them. While Georgia's small air force could not make much of a difference, Georgia's artillery was doing splendid job blowing up approaching Russian trucks and tanks. In fact, it was the only real opposing force incessantly shelling Russians from behind the lines of three Georgian brigades in and around Tskhinvali.

 

Chapter 4

Crusaders Incognito

Basile de Loussac was tired. Bone tired. And bedazzled by what he saw that day. 50,000 men slaughtering almost all of 300,000 Seljuks, relentlessly pursuing and killing them, as they ran south. Very few escaped. He witnessed this miracle, and it boosted his fervor and sense of destiny.

Leaving his native Nevers and going to Palestine to fight Saracens in Holy Land was one thing, but seeing third of a million of Seljuks slaughtered in one day on this field was outside of realm of possibility. A sheer magnitude of it was breathtaking. "Didgori" he thought, almost tasting this strange new word, "I was part of it too".

He and his comrades fought well, and they were praised by their Georgian hosts. Who were tired too, but their faces were brightened by realization of true significance of what just happened. They broke the spine of the mighty Seljuk empire. David decisively defeated Goliath. They were jubilant and astounded at the same time, almost in disbelief. There was this sense of divine providence, a realization that what happened on that day, on that field, would go down in history and remembered for many centuries to come.

It was a new beginning for this ancient land, and he felt a bond emerging between him and this remote outpost of Christianity, fighting for its faith so far from his hometown of Nevers.