Battle of Dara 530 AD (Part 2/2) - Belisarius' Tactical Master Class

 

A day after leaving Nisibis, the Sassanian army reached the outskirts of Dara.

 Observing the Byzantine battle order, it was obvious to Firouz that his army was the superior one.

 But, seeing that Belisarius took up position in a narrow gap, he knew that he would either have to force the Byzantines back into the city and besiege them,

 or draw them out into the open.

 Firouz had 40,000 troops under his command.

 Some 15,000 infantry were made up of levied troops of poor training and little fighting ability while another 5,000 were heavy infantry mercenaries, similar to the old Roman legionaries.

 His 20,000 heavy cavalry in lamellar armor fought as cataphracts, possessing the ability to shoot from horseback and deal some of the most devastating frontal charges of their time.

 Lined up across the field, Belisarius rejected the idea of being besieged inside the walls of Dara, and made preparations for a pitched battle in front of the city.

 However… he faced two major problems.

 With 25,000 men at his disposal, he was significantly outnumbered inferior

 and most of his troops were inferior to their Persian counterparts.

 15,000 cavalry was his main force, divided between the two wings.

 Although experienced, most were outclassed by the Persian cataphracts, with his only crack mounted units being the 1200 Huns in the inclined center, and the 1500 bucellarii, serving as his most trusted, personal elite regiment of mounted retainers, held in reserve.

 His infantry numbered 10,000 troops, and were generally of poor quality, composed of frontier garrison troops, provincial forces, survivors from prior battles and men that were hastily recruited from the countryside, some of whom had to be given basic archery training in the days before the battle to compensate for the low number of archers.

 Morale of the infantry was low due to continuous setbacks and defeats suffered against the Persians along the entire front, and Belisarius knew that if they were faced with a full blown Sassanian cavalry charge, they would not hold for long.

 To offset his army’s deficiencies, the Byzantine commander

 had a long line of ditches dug along the entire line.

 The ditch was too wide for cavalry to jump over, designed to slow down the charge of the dangerous Persian cavalry, and multiple narrow crossings were created to serve as chokepoints.

 The infantry trench was positioned further back to protect the unreliable footmen, where they could be supported by missile troops stationed on the city walls.

 With the Byzantines firmly entrenched, it was up to the Sassanians to make the first move...

 Most of the day passed with no action, but towards the late afternoon, elements of the Persian right wing advanced towards the enemy at a steady pace.

 It is unclear if the cavalry officers wanted to test the resolve of what they perceived to be an inferior foe, or if Firouz gave the order for a probing attack, but the charging cavalry soon closed in.

 After a short clash, Belisarius’ cavalry fell back, with the Persians in hot pursuit.

 Then came the signal for the archers!

 Soon after, the Byzantines wheeled about to face the pursuers.

 Caught by a feigned retreat and counterattack, the Sassanians retreated back to their own lines, trying in turn to lure the Byzantines into giving chase.

 But Belisarius kept his men from going beyond the trenches.

 Realizing that he will have to grind down the enemy, Firouz sent word to request reinforcements.

 Seeking to galvanize the troops, a Persian champion marched out from the line, challenging anyone in the Byzantine army to single combat.

 A young man by the name of Andreas who was an attendant of one of the Byzantine officers, and had been training with Belisarius’ bodyguards, accepted the challenge.

 In several seconds the duel was over, with Andreas walking back to his position to the cheers of the troops.

 But half way back to his line, a second Persian stepped forward.

 Unbidden, Andreas again obliged the challenger.

 Not long after, the fight was over.

 Winning in single combat for a second time, Andreas returned to his line a hero.

 By next morning, Firouz’s reinforcement arrived from Nisibis.

 Much of the 2nd day of the battle passed in negotiations between the two commanders.

 It seemed that both were trying to reach a peaceful resolution, although it is quite possible that Firouz was trying to buy time until all of his reinforcements arrived.

 As the day progressed, it became apparent that the flowery language of diplomacy will accomplish nothing.

 Finally, Firouz wrote to Belisarius, telling him to “prepare a bath” for him in Dara, so he could relax after his coming victory.

 Negotiations were over…

 By the 3rd day, Firouz received 10,000 reinforcements, including several thousand of the feared Immortals, bringing his force up to 50,000, a 2:1 numerical advantage over the Byzantines.

 Emboldened, he resolved to attack.

 His plan was to utilize his superior cavalry to overwhelm the Byzantine flanks and then double envelop the static center.

 Suspecting that Belisarius would strengthen his left flank after yesterday’s skirmishing, Firouz sent the Immortals to join the attack on the now weakened Byzantine right flank.

 Archers moved forward, with orders to keep the opposing projectile troops occupied during the cavalry charge.

 Persian infantry remained largely static, but moved slightly up the field, lagging behind the archers.

 When the two lines came into range of one another, the battle began with a heavy exchange of projectiles.

 The Persians maintained a heavier volume of projectiles, but a strong wind blew against them, largely negating their superiority in archery.

 Firouz ordered his cavalry not to charge at full gallop, but to approach the enemy at a steady pace, knowing that the trenches will break up the momentum of the attack.

 As the wall of armored cavalry methodically approached the trenches,

 Byzantine troops stood with bated breath.

 Looking to his left, Belisarius could see the frantic struggle.

 Riders impaled on spears and struck down from their horses,

 as the Persians advanced in full force.

 Pressed too heavily, the Byzantines could not disengage

 and they were slowly being pushed back.

 Meanwhile, the main Sassanian assault on Belisarius’ right broke through several sections of the trench.

 Firouz’s reserves, the elite mounted Immortals, with their riders and horses clad in armor, were grinding down everything in front of them.

 Seeing that his right is hard pressed, Belisarius sent the Huns from his center-right to charge the Persian inner flank, hoping to slow down their advance.

 On the left, however, was where the Byzantine commander set a trap for the Persians!

 He signalled a contingent of several hundred cavalry, until now hidden in the trees on the hillside, to charge the Sassanians and sent the Huns from his center-left to attack from the other side.

 The reason Belisarius set an ambush on his left was that he thought that the main Persian thrust would come there.

 But now, with his other flank collapsing, he hurriedly turned and led his own elite reserves to aid the troops on the right, who were by now in a fight for their life.

 Having suffered heavy losses, some of the contingents held their ground, while others were near breaking point.

 Desperate to get there in time, Belisarius galloped straight for the Persian inner flank!

 The momentum of the charge split through the enemy line, with some of the Sassanian contingents in the front continuing to hack their way forward, while those further back were now interlocked with Belisarius’ retinue.

 Across the field, Firouz’s attack was now dead in its’ tracks.

 With his forces on the Byzantine left almost entirely surrounded,

 communications were severely impacted and the chain of command was collapsing.

 Sassanian officers found it increasingly difficult to control the men.

 Before long, panic set in, and the Persian right flank fled in disarray, leaving some 3000 dead on the field.

 Some of the Byzantine units turned to help the other flank, so the pursuit of the retreating horsemen was brief, as the Byzantines stuck to their commander’s plan to keep the position on the edge of the trenches.

 On the right, Belisarius’ flanking attack finally stopped the Persian heavy cavalry juggernaut.

 During the bitter struggle, the Persian second-in-command was struck down, together with his standard bearer, causing the Sassanians to quickly lose heart.

 Many could not break out and were slaughtered then and there, while others manage to find their way back to the main line.

 Belisarius again restricted his troops from pursuing the enemy.

 Despite achieving a stunning victory, he knew that the Persians still outnumbered his army, thus it would’ve likely been a bloody fight to get into the Sassanian camp to loot it.

 Byzantine casualties weren’t recorded, but could not have been much less than 5,000 dead or wounded.

 The Persians, on the other hand, suffered up to 10,000 casualties.

 In spite of being outnumbered 2:1, Belisarius’ tactical master class secured one of the rare victories in a pitched battle for the Byzantines against the Sassanians, in recent years.

 But… the war went on…

 Although Justinian’s two commanders in the east achieved brilliant tactical victories at Dara and Satala, against vastly superior Persian armies, a year later Kavad mounted further offensives, defeating Belisarius at Callinicum and laying siege to Martyropolis.

 Justinian attempted to offer terms, which Kavad rejected.

 It seemed like the end of the war was nowhere in sight, but then, in 532, Kavad I died, and Justinian’s envoys re-opened negotiations with the new Sassanian King of Kings, Khosrow I.

 With the new Persian ruler needing to secure his position on the throne, the two sides signed a peace treaty, under which all occupied territories were returned and Justinian agreed to pay 11,000 pounds of gold.

 As for Flavius Belisarius, despite his defeat at Callinicum, he remained one of ablest generals in the Empire, and in the years to come he will spearhead Justinian’s ambitious military campaigns to restore the Roman Empire to its’ former glory…