Tales from the frontier: help save Kataphraktoi and take up his save game.

The beginning of the 1st Byzantine-Ummayad war 745 - 755
The Cilician Raid

Prince Leo was arrogant, but justifiably arrogant. At a young age, Leo was sent to the eastern frontier facing the powerful, but unusually, quiet Ummayad Caliphate. Since his tenure on the frontier, things have been quiet and peaceful. Anatolia is reaping the benefit of this peace by concentrating on its main sustenance of living: agriculture. To the surprise of everyone one day, Prince Leo gave the order for a general muster of the provincial troops.

Pleased by the high level quality of the provinces troops, Leo planned to mobilise this army against Cilicia and the Arab garrisons placed there. Unfortunately, to do so required emptying out the province with no defending troops. Leo sent a missive to the Strategos of the Armeniakon John and asked for 2000 infantry militia and a few contingents of cavalry of mixed types: heavy and light.

Drawing a part of the Anatolia army and his contingents together, he had before him 4000 infantry, 500 Armenian Heavy cavalry troopers, 500 Mardaite light cavalrymen, 500 Thematic Kablleroi and a few assorted Horse Archers. A decent size army of 6000 was the resultant number. It was also the right size for a raiding force into enemy territory.

One of the things taught to Leo as a student in the arts of war was the choice of seasons. Normally, raids were conducted at a suitable season within the year, mainly spring. Leo, on the other hand chose the winter. Recalling the words of the late Emperor Maurice, a great general in his time, how certain foes despise the winter. Those words seemed naturally suited to the Arabs who have had their bad experiences with winter in their campaigns against the Romans in the past such as the siege of Constantinople a few decades back. In the dead of winter, Leo thus marched into Arab Cilicia with his army.

For a while, the Arab garrisons on the frontier have been lax. They could afford to since the garrisoning army in Cilicia was large giving them the confidence of facing any Roman army with the weight of numbers on their side. Little did they realise, the Roman prince and his army had no intention of turning back. But this was Leo’s decision and arrogance more than the Roman army’s decision.

Leo did not meet many Arab troops on the frontier and thus ravaged a few towns here and there, expelling some Muslims while capturing some Christians to be deported into Roman territory to be resettled. It was only when Leo approached the hills overlooking the flat plains of Cilicia did he find the Arab army arrayed before him. However, he was disadvantaged from the beginning with him on low ground while the enemy was on the high ground.

Trusting in the training and discipline of the Roman troops, Leo made his dispositions. Seeing that the Arabs consisted mainly of foot archers with only one cavalry contingent under the Ummayad Prince Khalid, Leo decided on a cavalry charge to shatter the foot archers. Not waiting to march in step with the infantry milita, Leo gave the order for the cavalry to charge the lines.

The left wing cavalry quickly rode up to safe distance of the enemy capturing high level ground before waiting for the rest of the cavalry to catch up. The central cavalry unit of and Armenian cavalry rode up the hill before slowing down on the steep angle while the right wing cavalry had already connected with the Arab line on their far left. Unfortunately for the right wing, these foot archers were actually contingents of Ghulam infantry who are excellent in shooting bows and close combat fighting. After a tight melee, the right wing broke off. The left meanwhile charged into the right Arab wing and crushed the foot archers. The Armenians themselves also managed to connect with the main Arab line and broke the line. Suddenly the reserve Arab infantry charged into the Armenians who did not expect the attack on their flanks. Soon one half of the Armenians retreated. However, the left wing saved the day by turning around after they routed the Arab right and plunged into the foot archers and the infantry causing confusion in their ranks. The Mardaites caught the Ghulams as they were catching the shattered Roman right. But like the Roman right found the going hard because of the Ghulam resistance and experience in close combat.

Meanwhile, the infantry militia finally caught up with the fighting. Most of the militia were marching in good order against the resistant Ghulam infantry who unleashed a barrage of missiles against them. Only one miliita unit assisted the other Roman cavalry units on the left breaking the Arab center. Finally, the lines were engaged as one. The Ghulam infantry was holding strong and in fact sent a chunk of the militia fleeing while the rest were fighting on. Sensing wavering morale on the, Leo and his small bodyguard plunged into the fighting to shore up the line. Rallying the shattered cavalry right wing, they too joined the fray and stopped the momentum of the Ghulams from turning it into a decisive victory.

Ummayad Prince Khalid the situation and decided to commit to combat. At first he succeeded. The Roman left he had set on breaking was crumbling as his Ghulam bodyguards carved up the tight Roman cordon on the weakening infantry. Suddenly he was halted, the charge had ended and the militia held firm and rallied. Soon his rear was exposed as the Roman cavalry quickly moved around behind him and drove home a charge that sent his bodyguards into a panic. The day was lost for Khalid, he fled like the rest of his men.

His Ghulam infantry still held firm and still fighting causing many Roman casualties in the process. But they too found the going tough as the battle wore on. All the Ghulams were committed in the fight with no reserves. They had no protection when the remaining Roman units who were freed from fighting after they broke the main Arab body swung onto the right and plunged into the Ghulam rear causing a bloody rout. Very soon the whole Arab army was fleeing from the field with great slaughter following on their heels.
The Ghulam infantry was mauled everywhere and left the field with a small remnant of their original numbers.

It is estimated that 6000 Arabs died on the battlefield with numerous Ghulam dead. However, of that 6000, 4000 were captured and executed revealing a merciless streak in Leo. The Roman casualties were particularly high as well. 1500 were killed, too high a number to attain victory and in a raid as well. Nonetheless, the Romans were outnumbered from the beginning so casualties of this kind were expected.

Prince Leo followed the remaining Arab soldiers and soon marched onto the gates of Tarsus. With his small army, a siege was impossible and he returned to Anatolia as soon as possible before Arab reinforcements arrive in Cilicia.

Suffice to say, Leo returned with a decent amount of loot but at great cost. His army was greatly reduced but still sizeable. In a few weeks, rumours abounded of the raid into Cilicia. The Ummayad Caliph was livid at this breach of peace on the frontier, even though there was no peace agreement to begin with. Soon the empires were at war.
Upon hearing of the raid, the Emperor Narses marched to the east in support of his brother against the Caliph.
It was a risky to start war with the Arabs, his treasury was stretched and his naval fleet precariously thin in trying to fight in the east and the west.

fast forward to 760, the Romans are fighting in the 2nd Byzantine-Ummayad war.