Meanwhile, somewhere in northwestern Anatolia...
The opening skirmish between the two remaining Basileis, Kousinos Sophianos and Ioannis Komnenos III, has just gone underway without either of the commanding generals realizing the position they were in. Under the impression that this was just a mere surprise attack/harassment operation, Ioannis Erotikos instead took the field for a pivotal conflict.
His adversary, Isaakos Komnenos, had the numerical advantage, although that was almost moot given the current circumstances. Ioannos had two great factors going his way: Maneuverability and positioning. His all-cavalry force had caught Isaakos napping, and now there would be serious blood to pay.
Isaakos, quickly realizing his mistake, moved to reform his troops as fast as he could, hoping only to get into some semblance of a battle formation before the thunder hit. After all, fancy maneuvering and momentum meant very little once the hacking started in earnest. Isaakos, however, braced himself for a storm that never quite hit. Instead, Ioannis was passive, at first attempting to withdraw, thinking himself the better of it, and then settling down to pick off his opponent little by little with arrows. Erotikos's unorthodox plan seemed to be working, as 15% of Isaakos's men were already down by the time he had formed a forward-facing line.
The line surged forward. All the while, dozens more men dropped. Ioannis had succeeded in reducing Isaakos's men by a full fourth before any melee even started. Would it be enough?
Isaakos, perhaps thinking ahead to future engagements, held his infantry back slightly, letting a massed cavalry charge of his own hit Ioannis's men first. It worked, driving back most of Ioannis's cavalry and taking some pressure off his infantry. However, perhaps due to counter-fire, perhaps due to Isaakos's own orders, the bulk of Isaakos's cavalry withdrew before they actually hit. Isaakos Komnenos found himself and his escort caught in a swirl of enemy horsemen with 40% of his soldiers down. This was not going well.
Some of Erotikos's force, including Ioannis himself, stayed, trying to being down the enemy general down early. Some withdrew, continuing to pick off more enemy soldiers from a distance. However, Isaakos, using himself as bait, bought himself enough time for his infantry and some of his cavalry to charge in from several sides at once. Half of Ioannis's army was now in serious trouble as they desperately tried to hack themselves out of the situation.
As Ioannis's Skythikon, definitely not made for the type of mass chaos they were in now, started to rout, the remaining uncommitted regiments rode around the melee, trying to flank the bulk of Isaakos's force in order to ease the pressure. One of them was charged head-on by some of Isaakos's Byzantine Cavalry. The flankers were now, all four regiments, tied up, trying to bag one pesky regiment while the rest of the army completed their work and sent the Skythikon fleeing for the hills. Ioannis was still game, but he was down to ten bodyguards now and most of Isaakos's men no longer had other targets.
He quickly found himself surrounded, relieved only by a belated charge of Lancers. Half of his men were down at this point, as opposed to Isaakos's 56%. However, not all was lost. Isaakos, thinking the battle against Ioannis personally was won, began diverting troops to the aborted flank attempt where the bulk of Ioannis's remaining force was now concentrated before finishing the job with Ioannis and his Lancers. As a result, neither engagement had the amount of men necessary to properly complete the battle. Isaakos soon looked around in shock as his soldiers ran past, routing.
Isaakos, his own bodyguard relatively unspoiled, decided to commit to the larger fight, where his beleagured flank-stoppers and their early reinforcements were dealing with Erotikos's four regiments of cavalry. He got in at around the same time as his later reinforcements did, at the very least stopping the flood of men running. In addition, he caught the attention of his militia cavalry, far away, and motioned them to help out. Now it was Ioannis's men in trouble as they faced themselves with a resurgent threat in front of them and, all of a sudden, a cavalry charge to their rear. A counter-flanking of Isaakos was not enough to turn the tide.
And then, Ioannis, trying to hack his way out of a mass of Komnenian group of infantry, fell. With no commander around to issue orders, the remaining battle quickly turned in a simple, brutal, slugfest: kill one enemy and move onto the next. By this point, Isaakos had established the clear advantage and pressed it all the way to victory.
Looking around after the battle, he could do little more than gaze in belated shock over the quickness and ferocity of the battle. He achieved the primary objective of surviving the ambush, but at a terrible cost. Man-for-man, Ioannis had won the day. However, with Helarionas unexpectedly surrendering without a fight at the Battle of the Coastal Road, was it enough to whittle down Ioannis Komnenos III's men to a manageable amount? Isaakos certainly hoped not.
Battle replay:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/local...id=199&id=4880
The Battle of the Rear Guard
Originally Posted by TosaInu
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