Text: Unknown philosopher
Unknown philosopher
Belisarius, as a legendary general of the Eastern Roman Empire, is even called the "Byzantine Spear", such a legendary figure, but because of a war, he "exposed" the "moisture" of his legendary general, and let the emperor recall him before the battle was over.
Belisarius
Belisarius was an ordinary bodyguard who later became a personal soldier of Justinian I and was appreciated by the emperor. He participated in important military campaigns such as the First Persian War, the suppression of the Nika uprising, and the Vandal War, and gradually became an excellent general. Although he also made some mistakes, he always faced his life with an optimistic attitude.
During this time, he accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience, which laid a solid foundation for his future development. He showed his talent in the Gothic Wars and became an outstanding general.
Around the time of the accession of Justinian I, Belisarius participated in a number of lesser-known military campaigns, mainly against minor harassment by Germanic tribes and Bolgars.
During this time, he got a good workout and gradually rose to prominence and was promoted. Later, as an ordinary general, he came to Armenia with Sitas and went to war with the Persians, and although he lost a battle, the losses were not significant.
He was then appointed commander of the city of Dara, and Justinian I officially ascended the throne. Subsequently, he built a fortress near the city of Dara, posing a threat to Nisibis in Persia.
The Persians retaliated fiercely militarily, and Xerxes personally led his army to attack and launched a surprise attack on the Byzantine army.
Although Justinian I had sent the brothers Kuzes and Bugis to support Belisarius, the Byzantine army was defeated, Kuzes was captured, Belisarius and Bugis escaped, and the fortress was captured and destroyed by the Persians.
Belisarius's initial defeat on the Persian battlefield showed that he was not mature and inexperienced at the time, but these two battles benefited him greatly and familiarized him with the situation of the Persian army.
Justinian I did not blame him, and continued to trust him and appointed him to important positions of commander, which determined Belisarius's later outstanding performance.
In the campaign at that time, Belisarius was only an ordinary general, not a commander, so the responsibility for the defeat of the Byzantine army was not entirely attributable to him.
When Justinian I learned of the battle at the front, he immediately sent Pompelius to lead reinforcements, but he did nothing at the front and wasted a lot of time negotiating with the Persians, so Justinian I removed Pompelius, appointed Belisarius as commander-in-chief of the eastern theater, and ordered him to conquer the invading Persians.
The victory at Dara was Belisarius' first fledgling victory, and his reputation spread quickly for his composure and military prowess. With the Persian army dominating, Belisarius became the mainstay of the defeat when he was only twenty-five years old.
The fate of the Byzantine Empire in the Vandals. Belisarius showed excellent leadership and strategic vision, and he was able to correctly assess the situation and act accordingly.
In the early days of the war, Belisarius imposed appropriate punishments on soldiers who killed and stole with strict law and military discipline, which showed that he was deeply aware of the importance of maintaining the culture of the troops. He also made it clear to the soldiers the importance of military discipline and that winning the trust and support of the local population was essential to victory in the war.
Belisarius's mastery of nautical matters shows his mastery of military common sense. He successfully guided the fleet through the voyages, demonstrating his skill and ability in ocean warfare.
His ability to respond effectively and unobstructed to quartermaster cutting corners shows his ability to balance personnel relations. He knew how to deal with such issues in order to ensure that the army was well stocked and to maintain the morale and loyalty of the soldiers.
On the battlefield, Belisarius displayed calmness, decisiveness, bravery, and prudence. He is able to remain calm in urgent and dangerous situations and quickly make the right decisions and organize actions.
He is good at seizing the moment, finding the enemy's weak points according to the battlefield environment and the current situation, and launching precise attacks to achieve victory and lock the victory.
After the battle, Belisarius showed tolerance and benevolence, which made not only the people obedient, but also the enemies to him. He succeeded in destroying the Vandal kingdom and assumed the position of consul upon his return to Constantinople, reaching unprecedented levels of prestige and glory.
But he did not become complacent about this, and prepared to start the war against the Ostrogoths, according to the plan of Justinian I.
Belisarius's military prowess brought his military career to its peak, but he did not take credit for it. Instead, he continued to work hard to prepare for the next war and showed his military prowess in the face of the Libyan mutiny, winning comfortably.
Belisarius's performance profoundly rewrote the fate of the Byzantine Empire in the Vandals War and laid a solid foundation for his later career. His calmness, bravery, mental flexibility, and sound judgment made him an outstanding general who had a significant impact on the military strength and glory of the Byzantine Empire.
Gothic Wars
In September 535, Justinian I sent Monton to capture Salonis in Dalmatia, and at the same time sent Belisarius to lead an army of 7,500 men to attack Sicily from the sea, planning to advance on both north and south lines to flank the Ostrogothic kingdom.
Belisarius pretended to meet Carthage, but in fact led the clippers to attack Sicily directly. He forced several cities on the island, including the capital Syracuse, to surrender without a fight, but encountered obstacles at the fortress of Panormus.
Finding that the fortress relied mainly on strong fortifications to resist, Belisarius ordered the fleet to enter a nearby undefended harbor, then hoisted the dinghy full of archers to the top of the mast of the large ship, and fired arrows at the fortress from a high position, forcing it to surrender. Then Belisarius's army occupied all of Sicily.
When Peter, the emissary of the Byzantine Empire, learned of his victory in the first battle, he threatened the Ostrogothic king Theodatus to accept a humiliating peace treaty, demanding that he give up all of Italy in exchange for Belisarius' retreat and giving Theodatus himself a piece of gold worth 1,200 pounds.
However, Theodatus refused to carry out the agreement and imprisoned Peter and others. Justinian I was furious and ordered Constantius, the chief chamberlain of the royal family, to quickly assemble an army and rush to Dalmatia to repel the Ostrogothic army and regain control of the place.
At this time, there was a sudden rebellion in Africa led by Stochas, and Solomon personally went to Syracuse to ask Belisarius to return to Libya quickly.
Belisarius immediately returned to Yingtaiki and then led his army in pursuit of the retreating rebels. At Membursa, Belisarius commanded his army to crush the outnumbered rebels, but Stochas managed to escape.
When the news of another rebellion broke out in Sicily, Belisarius handed over the affairs of Libya to his subordinates and rushed back to Sicily himself. The counterinsurgency operation took only a month.
After Belisarius returned to Sicily, Belisarius arranged a garrison and led his army into the Italian peninsula. After the fall of Naples, the disgruntled Ostrogoths revolted, overthrew the lazy Theodatus, and installed the proclaimed Vittius as the new king.
However, Vittius was soon killed by his enemies. After leaving a small number of defenders in Naples, Belisarius led his army north to attack Latin and enter the city of Rome.
Soon after, Vittius led an Ostrogothic army to lay siege to the city of Rome, while reinforcing its defenses and cutting off the city from the outside world. Belisarius took advantage of the various gates of Rome and the surrounding terrain to deploy his forces and defend the most difficult points to attack.
After a long and unsuccessful siege of Rome, Vittius angrily executed some of Ravenna's senators and nobles to vent his anger, and captured the undefended port of Portus, cutting off the Byzantine army's food supply lines. The Byzantine army rashly attacked and suffered defeat, and from then on did not dare to despise the enemy.
On 21 March 538, Belisarius withdrew to Ravenna with the remnants of his defeated army, and after a year and nine days of siege and defense of the Roman city, it ended in the victory of the Byzantine army. The battle profoundly changed the tide of the battle, and the Byzantine army under Belisarius was victorious.
After the siege of Rome was lifted, the main strongholds of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy were only Ravenna, Milan and Rimini.
Ravenna was the capital of the Ostrogothic kingdom, Milan was the religious and cultural center of northern Italy, and Rimini was the city on the border between the Ostrogothic kingdom and the Frankish kingdom.
While Vitius was retreating, John captured Rimini, and Belisarius sent his general Montillas with a thousand men and horses by sea from Porto to Genoa and captured a large area north of the Po River, including Milan.
In May 540, the Byzantine army finally captured Ravenna, ending the first phase of the Ostrogothic War.
Belisarius's military career reached its peak in the Gothic Wars, while the Ostrogothic kingdom was in trouble. The second phase of the Gothic Wars lasted from 541 to 554, mainly under the leadership of the new king Totila, in which the Ostrogothic kingdom waged a long war with the Byzantine Empire. The war lasted for fourteen years.
Totila was initially in full swing and almost drove the Byzantine army out of Italy. He took advantage of the victory and marched and occupied most of Italy.
Totila gave preferential treatment to prisoners of war, took care of the elderly, women and children, protected the commoners, respected the nobles and senators, strictly observed military discipline, and influenced the enemy and the people with kindness and virtue, and succeeded in winning the hearts and minds of the people. The arrival of the Ostrogothic army was welcomed and supported in various ways by the local military and civilians.
On the contrary, the Byzantine side was facing disintegration, and many generals appealed to Justinian I. Faced with the sharp turn of the tide of the war in Italy, Justinian I had to reactivate Belisarius and transfer him to the Western Front to deal with the defeat.
After all, Belisarius knew the Italian situation well, and had achieved brilliant results there.
In the spring of 544, Belisarius, together with the Byzantine generals Vitalius and Valentineus, led an army and escorted a large amount of grain and grass to Rome.
When Totila learned of Belisarius's arrival, he became very nervous and sent people to the Byzantine garrison to find out the truth. It turned out that Belisarius had brought few troops and was not a cause for concern.
Totila then decided to lay siege to the city of Rome. However, after Belisarius arrived in Ravenna, he repeatedly sent troops to Bononia, near the city of Rome, to relieve the siege of the Byzantine army, but the personnel sent either fled privately because the government was in arrears of military salaries, or because of the slow movement and delayed the military aircraft, so that the rescue operation was ineffective.
Belisarius then ordered the construction of damaged walls and fortifications, and turned the attack into defense. After returning to the Italian battlefield, he was plagued by a lack of troops.
The generals of the garrison did not listen to orders, and the soldiers were corrupt and scattered, and their combat effectiveness was low, which also made Belisarius's talents useless.
His letter requesting urgent reinforcements from Justinian I was nothing more than a matter of insult to injury. The city of Rome was besieged by the Ostrogothic army for a year. On 17 December 546, four defenders surrendered to the Ostrogoths and let their troops in, and the city of Rome finally fell.
Totila reaffirmed military discipline and forbade his soldiers from wanton slaughter and rape and plunder, winning the favor of the Roman citizens.
He then sent a letter to Justinian I asking for peace, but the latter was noncommittal and ordered him to negotiate directly with Belisarius, the head of the Italian battlefield, in effect rejecting the Ostrogoths' peace offer in disguise.
Totila failed to sue for peace and decided to continue the fight against the Byzantine Empire. Since then, the two sides have entered a tug-of-war, with each other winning and losing. Although the Byzantine army had a slight upper hand, it was still unable to open the situation.
In 548, he sent Antonina back to Constantinople to explain the situation to Justinian I, asking for large reinforcements to help him in his mission, or simply calling himself back. The emperor chose the latter. Totila immediately led his army in a fourth siege of the city of Rome, which he soon captured.
After Belisarius left, Justinian I decided to fight his back and settle the Ostrogothic question once and for all. In 554, the Gothic Wars ended with the victory of the Byzantine Empire. In this war, the Byzantine army managed to defeat the Ostrogothic kingdom and regain control of Italy.
epilogue
Belissa's performance in the Gothic Wars can be described as "a success". Especially in the second phase of the war, Belisarius stood up and tried to turn the situation around, knowing that the situation was unfavorable.
However, the distrust of Justinian I, the constraints of Narzes, the uncooperation of John and others, and the extreme lack of troops and materials made it difficult for him to effectively control the overall situation, and finally had to give up, burying his life's career and reputation.