Belisarius goes East

Clibanarius

Banned
531 AD.

Battle of Callicinium.

Belisarius anchors his Infantry's right flank on the river and positions an additional 1,000 Cataphracts on the left behind his Arabs.

The battle is a stalemate for the most of the day until the Persian Commander sends his Cavalry to charge the Roman left.

Belisarius' Arabs give away to reveal 1,000 waiting Cataphracts and as the Cataphracts charge Belisarius sends his Buecallarii to attack the Persian Cavalry's exposed right flank.

The Persian Cavalry are decimated and driven back the Roman Cavalry in a hot but ordered pursuit.

The battle goes on for another day but in the end the Persians retreat in disarray leaving the Roman Army in possession of the field.

When word reaches Justinian he sees his chance to destroy a hated enemy once and for all and immediately orders Belisarius to capitalize on his success and push into the Persian Empire.

Reinforcements are sent east and Armies raised while Belisarius forces pause to lick their wounds and consolidate their gains.

Justinian calls on Axum for aid and they agree to head East and land troops in the Arabian desert on the Persian's southern coast in return for south-western and a large sum of money.

Justinian also hires large contingents of Gothic and Vandal Mercenaries and sends them east under Roman command.

While the Reinforcements are being raised Belisarius knows that his force is battered and that it will months before the first reinforcements arrive.

So begins a calculated campaign of raids and skirmishes, Belisarius troops have lost their appetite for another battle so soon after Callincinium and are glad to spend most of their time in garrisons.

Meanwhile an outraged Persian Emperor sends the Armies nearest to Belisarius to the west and upon learning that they are avoiding battle orders his troops to begin devestating the countryside and lay siege to several Roman cities and Fortresses while he hurriedly raises armies and orders his eastern forces west.
 
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Elfwine

Okay so he won. How?

I'm trying to sort out what decision/s he made differently.

Also, that's a lot of cataphracts. I'm not sure if that term meant what it would later in terms of rarity, though.
 

Clibanarius

Banned
IN OTL he lost because the Arabs on the left flank got driven off by the Persian Cavalry and that forced him to pull his entire force back across the river which led to the 'Eternal Peace', etc.

In TTL he took a page of out Caesar's book from the battle of Pharsalus and had a bunch of Cataphracts waiting behind the Arabs. Which the Persians didn't see since the Arabs were screening them.

Once the Persians were engaged with the Cataphracts Belisarius sent his Buecallarii (Which numbered around 1,500 Cataphracts) around to hit the pinned Persian Cavalry's exposed right flank.

And at this point in time the Romans would have had plenty of Cataphracts which were far more numerous than their later Nikephorian Counter-Parts in OTL.
 

DuQuense

Justinian calls on Axum for aid and they agree to head East and land troops in the Arabian desert on the Persian's southern coast in return for south-western and a large sum of money.
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You are forgetting the Time Lag.
It takes 7~10 days from Constantinople to Egypt, then another 20 ~25 days from Egypt to Axum.

So you have a 2 weeks after the Battle before Justinian heres of the result, another 4 sending a message to Axum, + 4 getting a answer,& +4 agreeing to the terms.
So it is 3 1/2 months after the Battle before Axum begins to get ready.
Say 5 months before the Raiding Parties [all Axum would/could send] from Axum begin light Raids on the Persian coast.
Justinian also hires large contingents of Gothic and Vandal Mercenaries and sends them East under Roman command.
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Probably take the same 5~6 months, to raise and Send these to Persian
R
reinforcements are sent East and Armies raised while Belisarius forces pause to lick their wounds and consolidate their gains.
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So what happens in Persia in the 3-4 months before the 1st reinforcements Arrive, and the Half Year+, before the rest of the Reinforcements get there.
 

Clibanarius

Banned
Thanks! Glad to hear it was believable (this is my first somewhat believable attempt at a non-ASB TL) And yeah actually, I read the Belisarius series a while back, they weren't bad :D
 

Clibanarius

Banned
531 AD.

Belisarius marches to the relief of Dara, cutting of Sassanian forces in the area and leaving the way open to Nisibis, although his troops are exhausted from the fighting and the supply situation isn't ideal Belisarius moves his battered forces to Nisibis where they besiege it.

The Persians, frustrated at the Roman avoidance of battle surround Belisarius' forces at Nisibis and lay siege to the Roman lines of Contravalliation.

However Belisarius has an ace in the hole, the reinforcements the Emperor has dispatched are only a month or so behind the Army Belisarius started out with and the active troops he ordered from the eastern provinces and so the General urges his troops to hold out just a little longer and they'll be relieved and go on to crush the Persian foe once and for all.


The siege goes back and forth for the next couple of weeks as Roman troops breach the walls of Nisibis only to be driven back and in turn they drive back the persian reinforcments outside their fortifications.

Back in Constantinople Justinian is busy negotiating with the Ostrogoths and the Vandals. His plan is to continue to support Belisarius conquest of the Persians and secure good relations with his western neighbors.

He sends spies to the imprisoned Vandal King Hilderic and promises to help restore him to his position and declare him Augustus of Africa if he'll recognize Roman Authority and smooth things over with the Catholics.

Hilderic, having nothing to lose and everything to regain agrees.

Meanwhile the Regent of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, Amalisuintha is anxious to retain her position and keep her son on the Throne, as such she agrees to a Roman Alliance and recognition of Imperial Authority in return for Roman support and recognition.

Roman reinforcements arrive early at Nisibis and the Persian forces are trapped between the sortie from the Roman defenders and the Reinforcements.

The Battle rages on for two days until the Persians are driven from the field and the Governer of Nisibis capitulates in order to save his City from the brutal sack that will follow if he continues to resist.

Even so the sack is unpleasant and chaotic as Roman troops rush through the City like ravening wolves while their commanders do their best to limit the damage.

While events continue to unfold in the east Narses is sent in secrect to the Vandal Kingdom with sum of Ostrogoth, Axumite, Roman and captured Persian money.

His mission, to raise an army and restore Hilderic to power, with him are 1,500 Buecallarii and over the next few months they raise a motley force or Moors, Berbers, Axumites, and Gothic and Hun Mercenaries.

Narses has strict orders to keep his force under control as any rampages on their part would damage relations between the Empire and Vandals that Justinian hopes to have back under Hilderic's rule.
 

Clibanarius

Banned
532.

Axumite warhips have landed Roman troops on the southern coast of the Sassanian Empire and are raiding up and down the Sassanian coastline while Belisarius has been reinforced with fresh troops and supplies.

Belisarius knows that the Empire simply can't sustain constant back and forth blood-baths like Nisibis and so he begins seeking a decisive victory and finds in the force that Axumites have landed near Bishapur.

Belisarius sends a messenger to them and orders them to march north and take Ctesiphon and cut the main Sassanian Army off from their supplies.

The southern force moves most of its supplies upriver and arrives quickly taking the City by suprise and besieging it.

Belisarius negotiates with the many clans of Lahkmid Arabs however several Persian emissaries have the same idea and there follows a vicious campaign in the shadows as Roman and Persian Diplomats seek to eradicate one another while the Lakhmids sit back and see which one will win and which one will pay them the most. Finally the Romans gain the upper hand and many of the Lakhmids Chieftains swear allegiance to the Romans and send several of their troops under Belisarius' Banner north to storm al-Hirah.

Belisarius' troops move south, avoiding the Sassanian armies and leave token forces to besiege and cut off Massice and Selucia.

The bulk of Belisarius' force heads to Ctesiphon and meets the Sassanian Army. The Sassanians draw up in their standard array with the King and his Guards at the Rear and two Cavalry formations in the Center with Mercenary horse archers at the front and to his chagrin Belisarius discovers why he hadn't encountered any Elephants.

The bulk of the Sassanian Elephant Corp is deployed on the Sassanian's flanks, the Elephants are heavily armoured with coats of bronze scales and their ears have been painted red in the usual Sassanian fashion.

Belisarius begins snapping orders as the Sassanians slowly advance across the field, Roman and Persian horse archers skirmish indecisively throughout the morning.

Finally Belisarius foot and horse archers drive the Persians' off and the Savaran makes its first charge of the day, they crash into caltrops, holes, stakes and finally into a series of deep caltrop-lined ditches that Belisarius had ordered prepared the night before.

Behind the obstalces wait heavily armoured Roman Infantry and dismounted Cataphracts who easily deal with the few individual cavalrymen that do get through.

In light of the Elephants, Belisarius orders his Cataphracts to dismount and form up as he doesn't want the Elephants' scent scattering his best troops to the four winds.

After the failure of his Savaran's first charge, Khosrau orders in his Pushtigabans and 3,000 of his Elephants followed by the Savaran who have by this time reformed and rejoined the Persian force.

The Elephants do screen the Persian horsemen from enemy missile fire but the Elephants in the first balk as soon as they encounter the Caltrops and begin to panic as Roman archers fire at the exposed parts of the bodies and at their vulnerable drivers.

The Persian Elephants begin pushing back through their own ranks in an attempt to get away, disordering the ranks of their formations and scattering several of the Persian cavalry formations as they gallop out of the Elephants away.

After a third attempt Khosrau orders his forces back to their encamptment for the night and plots his next move.
 

Elfwine

And so yet again elephants are shown to be more trouble than they're worth.

Belisarius Nikator! (I suppose "Victor" is still appropriate, since the Empire is still using Latin).
 

Mr. Magi

Well, You have me interested the moment you dealt with the early dark ages pre-islam. I can't wait to see how the Mediterranean fares along with the east.
 

Faeelin

You know, I'm always a bit skeptical of the idea of Belisarius as a brilliant general. There's a tendency to assume nowadays he only lost because Justinian didn't provide him with enough resources, but as you point out, he did lose in the east...
 

LordKalvan

Faeelin said:
You know, I'm always a bit skeptical of the idea of Belisarius as a brilliant general. There's a tendency to assume nowadays he only lost because Justinian didn't provide him with enough resources, but as you point out, he did lose in the east...
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I have to agree. Even the Gothic war gives me food for doubt: Belisarius certainly managed to exploit the weaknesses of opposition (even if he was unable to completely pacify Italy), but I wonder if he was not more lucky than able.
 

Elfwine

And what would it take to satisfy the doubts?

That is, what would be convincing of great generalship?

How much would it take?
 

Elfwine

LordKalvan said:
Pacifying the Goths
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So...like what he was doing OTL before Justinian recalled him and then mishandled the situation before sending him back with insufficient resources?

:confused:

I'm not saying that he was unquestionable, but he was pretty far along that goal before forces irrelevant to the issue of his generalship got in the way.
 
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