Roman Empire: Desert Scorpion

In 530 AD, the Sassanid Empire sent 40,000 troops to attack syria, and was defeated by the Roman general Belisarius at the Battle of Dara, and after the first year of initial confrontation, the Eastern Roman Empire had a slight advantage. However, the Sassanid Empire then sent a second army to the west, and 20,000 Sassanid cavalry arrived in Syria unexpectedly, and the war was about to break out...

Desert Cavalry

The Eastern Roman Empire had very limited troops in the east, because the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian's western-first strategy led to the main forces of the Eastern Roman Empire concentrated in Europe to prepare against the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Therefore, the Roman commander Belisarius had a relatively limited number of troops, and could only dispatch and recruit some Isurian infantry and Arab cavalry to form a temporary army.

The Sassanid Empire still retained the strength to fight again, and although it had lost troops in the previous year's battle, it was strong enough to support the second western expedition. The Sassanid general Azaress soon formed a pure cavalry combat unit with great mobility, and although the Empire's most elite undead cavalry was not accompanied, the cavalry force composed of local feudal nobles was still the highest level of the Empire's ironclad cavalry.

At the same time, the Sassanid Empire also united with Alamon Dallas III of the Kingdom of Lehmi, who was considered the most dangerous enemy of the Romans, and had Alamand Dallas III join the army as a courtier, making the Sassanid cavalry more powerful on the battlefield.

In order to create an unexpected effect, 20,000 Sassanid cavalry deliberately changed the course of their attack, crossing the Euphrates River from a farther southerly position and crossing the inaccessible wilderness to the Euphratesian region. The move bypassed several border defense centers of the Eastern Roman Empire and cut directly into the core territory of Syria to carry out unexpected strikes.

Battle of Kalinikus

The Sassanid cavalry made a good breakthrough, causing widespread panic among the Romans in the east. After calm consideration, the Roman commander Belisarius decided to establish garrisons in each town, leaving a large number of infantry defensive positions to prevent the Sassanid Empire from taking advantage of the situation. He personally led 20,000 Roman troops in pursuit of the Sassanid cavalry, crossed the Euphrates River, and camped at chalcis, and the two armies faced each other in the Kallinicus area.

On April 19, 531, the two armies met on the outskirts of The City of Karinikum, and the Roman commander Belisarius lacked confidence in the outcome of the battle, and the Roman legions were long gone, leaving only infantry with extremely poor combat quality, distributed on the front line according to small units. The cavalry also came from different regions of the mobile force, lack of effective coordination, some local soldiers can not speak Latin and Greek, difficult to communicate effectively.

The Roman commander Belisarius deployed his entire army on the euphrates River, on the left was a river channel to cover the flank of the whole army, and in the center was a phalanx of 8,000 light infantry, armed with spears and shields, forming a six-kilometer-long battle line. Archers fought as scattered troops between the front and rear lines, while on the right were elite Roman cavalry led by the Roman commander Belisarius himself.

The Sassanid cavalry opposite was divided into three stormtroopers, most of which were armed with armor and were more sophisticated than the Roman infantry of the same period. Even the average archer wore chainmail and was equipped with a deadly compound bow. Although not as armed to the teeth as the Empire's most elite undead cavalry, local heavy cavalry was also equipped with heavy armor, and the front-row charge cavalry even wore warhorse iron armor.

Scorpion Blade

At the beginning of the battle, thousands of Sassanid archers quickly approached the Roman positions, constantly firing horses, firing thousands of arrows in turn, briefly covering the sky like dark clouds. Thousands of arrows landed on the shield defense line, emitting a collision sound of "bang bang", a small number of arrows penetrated the gap between the shield and the iron armor, fell into the flesh, the arrow's blood flowed non-stop, and the death and injury issued a cry of pain.

The Roman archers immediately counterattacked, firing thousands of arrows in unison, and the Roman archers with hard bows were even more deadly and threatening, killing and wounding the Sassanid archers. The fire suppressed the opposite side, a large number of Sassanid horses were killed by arrows, many riders fell to the ground, the arrows penetrated the chest or throat of the Sassanid riders, the blood of the dead was splashed on the spot, and the horses that fled in terror lifted up the sand on the battlefield.

The Sassanid general Azares took the opportunity to secretly transfer the cavalry in the middle to the left flank and occupy a high ground with a commanding height overlooking the entire battlefield, forming a local advantage on the left flank. The Roman commander Belisarius was obscured by the dust and did not notice the tactical changes of the Sassanid cavalry, which the Roman army knew nothing about.

When both sides ran out of arrows, the Sassanid general Azaress ordered the entire army to attack on the left flank, and the weakest Fighting Roman mercenaries (Garsanid Arabs) were instantly crushed, and the Sassanid cavalry opened a breakthrough on the Roman front and quickly swept across the entire periphery of the battlefield. The local legions (Lycanian infantry) also began to waver, originally only defensive garrisons in the mountains, lacking combat experience in dealing with large-scale ironclad cavalry, and in the face of the charge of the Sassanid cavalry on the left flank, the local legions (Lycanian infantry) immediately collapsed, and the Sassanid cavalry was killed in blood on the left flank.

Battle of the Water Prison

Although the central Roman infantry phalanx resisted the onslaught of the Sassanid army, the flank collapsed, leaving the well-informed Roman commander Belisarius at a loss. The elite Roman cavalry sent out to fill the gap in the front was attacked by a large number of Sassanid cavalry, which could not withstand the equipment and numerical disadvantages, and the elite Roman cavalry began to rout step by step, slowly losing its original position.

In the fierce battle between the two sides, the Sassanid cavalry gradually gained the advantage, from the left flank to the Euphrates River, ten thousand Sassanid cavalry completed the siege, the Roman army was heavily surrounded, the Roman commander Beliza left the infantry to form a hollow phalanx, to carry out the final battle, the Romans were blocked by the Euphrates River behind them, and the potential exploded in a desperate situation. Blocked several fierce charges of the Sassanid cavalry, wielding sharp blades and desperately slashing, the infantry phalanx was killed all over the field, the Sassanid cavalry that crashed into the Roman phalanx were pierced by spears, and the two armies fought until the men and horses were exhausted, and the Sassanid cavalry suffered extremely heavy casualties.

The two sides suffered the greatest casualties since the start of the war at this stage, with thousands of dead bodies lying on the grasslands and soldiers fighting fiercely throughout the day. The Roman commander Belisarius realized his defeat and found a prepared ship to leave the Roman position, and the morale of the Roman infantry left the battlefield in an instant, and the total rout began. The infantry left in the siege was isolated, the most prominent of which was the Roman general "Ascan", who led 800 warriors to invincible, fearlessly slashed and killed thousands of Sassanid soldiers in succession, with heads and severed limbs everywhere, and eventually died of exhaustion. Many Romans were slaughtered or drowned by jumping into turbulent waters, and Eastern Rome lost almost all of its field armies in Syria.

Outcome: The Battle of Kallinicum ended in a crushing victory for the Sassanid Empire, but due to the excessive death toll of the Sassanid cavalry and the failure to complete the set strategic task, the Sassanid general Azaleses was punished upon his return. Subsequently, Eastern Rome reached a peace agreement with the Sassanid Empire, and the Romans were required to pay annual tribute to the Sassanid Empire.