Chapter 70 : The Syrian War (Part II):
The Allies
In the time of Antigonos, the population of Makedonia had been depleted by the oppertunity of foreign settlement and what seemed like almost constant invasions and wars. Since the beginning of the Antigonid line and the reforming of the Arche Makedonia, foreign soldiers had been a neccessity in a Makedonike army. Over the years many foreign troops had done great things for Makedonia, such as Neikolaos' Keltoi or Pyrrhos' Illyrioi. Allied armies under the command of foreign commanders had also been a great help to the Arche Makedonia. In the Makedonike civil war, however, they have reached a greater amount of service but with a greater cost. Foreign forces such as those of the Galatioi, Ioudaioi, Romaioi, and Babylonians had served Pyrrhos and Philippos greatly in the war. However, each of those groups had gained greater autonomy and leverage against Makedonia. They now pose a greater risk to the stability of the Arche Makedonia in the post-war years to come.
Lesser known allied forces, such as the steppe cavalary, originally loyal to Lysippos, had also done great deeds for the Pyrrhids. Over the years of the civil war, the steppe forces in Armenia had almost single handedly harrassed the Demetrid forces in the region and prevented any meaningful profit return from Armenia. Now, with an Sophene Armenian general and his army besieging the city of Armavir, the steppe forces take once more to wiping out small isolated Demetrid forces before they can group together and provide a challenge:
Under the rain of arrows released from the swift horsemen...
...only death remains:
The steppe horsemen strike again, quickly:
This time their enemy brings better armor...
...but it is only a matter of time before an arrow falls at a weak point:
In Syria, the Demetrids are desperate to save their Basileus and relieve their capital. Gathering their forces, the Demetrids send a great army through eastern Syria but are halted by the Galatians:
With the Euphrates river to their left, the Galatians line up to block the avance of the Demetrid army on Demetreia:
Just like in past engagements with the Galatians, the Demetrids rush forward to meet them, judging the Galatians upon their numbers alone:
As they approach, the Galatians throw their spears...
...then charge in before the enemy can form a phalanx:
Unable to form a cohesive line, the Demetrid army breaks into several groups and begins to fight the Galatians. Using their superior numbers to their advantage, each group of Demetrid soldiers attempt to encircle each individual Galatian group, but they still underestimate their enemy:
The Demetrids ignore the Galatian archers as they move around their left flanks and concentrate on encircling the infantry, but then the archers lower their spears and prove the the Demetrids that you should not turn your back on any Galatian, no matter his perceived battlefield role:
Meanwhile, the cavalry succeeds at their own flanking along the river to the right flank of the Demetrids and crush the few men holding down the elites:
Free from battle on both sides, both flanks charge toward the center and encircle those Demetrids who were attempting to encircle the Galatian center:
The center of the Galatian line, previously threatened by encirclement, falls back and allows for the flanks to completely encirlce the remaining enemy. While the encircled Demetrids are slaughtered, the cavalry chases down those who escaped and are trying to flee:
The Galatians move to protect the Euphrates crossing, but their battlefield is remembered as the sites of one of the greatest battles ever fought, both because of the odds and because of the tactics used:
Their good new is soon dwarved by bad news from their home, however. Their king, the king of Galatia, is dead:
This event posses a difficult situation to Philippos, who also gets a similar message just outside of Demetreia. Though the Galatians are allies and a client kingdom, they have used the war as an excuse to expand their power and territories, claiming part of the Pontos satrapy for themselves. It had been planned to disband their military after the war, then slowly reduce their powers until the point when Galatia could be formally added to the Arche Makedonia, removing their autonomy and the problem. However, now that the king is dead there is an oppertunity to take control of the region of Galatia. If Philippos does not seize this oppertunity and a new king is chosen it will be another generation before this chance comes again. After great thought, Philippos allows the Galatians to choose a new king. Philippos realizes there is far too much risk, with a large standing army, loyal to Galatia and not Makedonia. The first step must be to disband that army and reclaim Pontos.
One ally who had long since proven themselves loyal to the Pyrrhids are the Romaioi. Because of their fair treatment when conquered and their permitted internal autonomy, the people of Roma were friends to Pyrrhos and had proven a valuable ally. Not long after the Galatians repel one army of the Demetrids, a second attempts to break through to Demetreia. This time it is blocked by the Romaioi, under (indefinately extended) Consul Tiberius Aurelius Cotta:
Rather than face the enemy in the open field, the Romaioi take up the defensive possition at a river ford. The Romaioi assume the enemy will simply wait on the other side or try to find another way around, but he fanatical men, seeking to save their Basileus, decide to simply charge across the waters and into the waiting spears of the Romaioi Triarii:
While the Triarii take up the front line, the other ranks and Romaioi skirmishers let loose thousands of spears from behind:
With the Demetrids unable to form up their lines in the river, the advantage goes to the Romaioi who hold the line at the river bank against everything that comes across:
With fanatical drive, every last Demetrid soldier throws himself against the Romaioi line. By the end of the day, on the river banks, at the bottom of the river, and floating down it toward Demetreia are thousands of corpses intermixed with the moans of dying men:
Tiberius Aurelius Cotta looses very few men and holds his defensive possition, easily winning the battle. When word reaches Philippos of the battle, he sends his personal congratulations:
With the armies of Syria and Assyria wiped out and an army of Ioudaioi between him and Aigyptos, Chrysoloras Delphikos takes the remnants of his father's army and his own mercenaries and marches out of Phoenicia and eastward to the city of Damaskos:
Meanwhile in Makedonia, Euphratos, younger brother of Sotades and Basileus Philippos, manages to acquire a sizable wealth for himself managing the money of the Arche Makedonia:
Over the years, the finances of Makedonia had greatly improved. Once Anatolia, Pontos, and Kappadokia were conquered, the fear of debt was gone. Now, with the invasion of Syria in sight, the days of a surplus in the royal treasury are within sight once more. Governors and Generals all across the Arche Makedonia prepare for the future and plan military build-ups and building projects.
To the far west, Zaikedenthes Echinaieus once again is forced to defend the city of Ippone from agression from the Numidians and exiled nobles of Kart-Hadast:
The city is defended once again, but it is only a matter of time before the garrison is weakened and the Numidians are able to throw a large enoug force at the city to break it:
[In case you hadn't guessed, I got tired of fighting this battles and just started to use "auto_win" on them.]
As the winter months set in, the generals of the Arche Makedonia in Syria and their armies settle into their camps and wait out the sieges of the few remaining Demetrid cities and their garrisons. In southern Syria, however, Chrysoloras Delphikos is surprised when a small army attacks from the south. It would seem that the small force had managed to pass through Ioudaia undetected, but it is little concern for Chyrsoloras and his large amry of klerouchoi and mercenaries:
On the hills outside of Damaskos, the two armies of phalangitai meet and begin their sarrisa duel:
As the phalangitai fight the army, from the south, coming from the city, the enemy general and his kataphraktoi cavalry charge in at the flank:
A group a phalangitai manage to move in and attack the enemy kataphraktoi, but in order to hold them down, Chrysoloras is forced to send in the Kretan archers, who are well capible of performing the task:
The first army breaks soon after and Chrysoloras Delphikos takes the cavalry to chase it down. The army from the city rushes in to save their general, but neither the general nor any of his men manage to flee the battlefield:
The next day, Chrysoloras Delphikos and his army takes the city of Damaskos. Those in the city are neither angry nor overjoyed. For most inhabitants, nothing changes with this change of power. Though for Chrysoloras and his men it is a plus. They are now able to weather out the rest of winter in the warmth of the city barracks.
Before the winter draws to a close, once again the Galatians are attacked as well. Rather than rescue Assyria from the army of Herodes, the forces in the east all attempt to move westward to their Basileus and to their capital:
At first the two armies face off against eachother across the river, taunting eachother. It is only a matter of time before the Demetrids can take no more and make their move across the Euphrates and into Syria:
The Galatians form an arc around the landing of the bridge and wait:
Once a sizable Demetrid force is across the bridge, they charge in from all sides:
The emeny is quickly slaughtered and the Galatians reform their line. Seeing the failure of the larger force, the smaller Demetrid force falls back and leaves the field of battle:
All across Syria, Assyria, Babylonia, and Armenia the garrisons and cities of the Demetrids are running out of supplies and nearing the point of forced surrender. Demetrid envoys from Syria who manage to get passed the armies of the Pyrrhids move to Aigyptos. From Aigyptos a few armies had moved north to assist Syria, but far more of the forces of Aigyptos had remained idle. With Syria doomed to fall and the Demetrid line end, the generals and nobles of Aigyptos turn their back on Demetreia and prepare to take power for themselves, rather than fight and fall with Syria. The Demetrid envoys are forced to return to their Basileus with new of no reinforcements.
The known world in161
BC:
Next: Chapter 71 : The Syrian War (Part III): Reconquista
Re: The Pyrrhic Dynasty : A Makedonian AAR
- A Very Super Market,
- Machinor
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