The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony by Dennis P. Hupchick

Author:Dennis P. Hupchick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

On 20 August the two opposing armies drew up in formal two-line battle formations facing one another a bit north of the Byzantine encampment above Ankhialos and astride the coastal plain separating the shore of the Black Sea , on the east, from the rolling Balkan Mountain foothills, to the west. Phokas formed his entire force on the plain for a concentrated frontal assault on the Bulgarian lines to his north. Simeon, who planned to draw his enemy into a trap by employing the tactical maneuver of the feigned retreat, deployed the majority of his troops on the open plain and advanced them to meet the Byzantine attack, but he retained a strong reserve force, the core of which consisted of his personal retinue , concealed in the foothills beyond his right flank. The front lines of the armies collided on the plain and vicious fighting erupted, in which the Byzantines , as Simeon expected, gained the upper hand through sheer weight of numbers. Some Bulgarian units actually may have broke from the pressure while most began retiring northward at a lively pace, in loosely organized fashion under the command control of their officers, who operated in accordance with their ruler’s plan. Seeing the Bulgarians apparently running from the field, the Byzantine troops took off after them and Phokas, thinking that Bulgarian resistance had collapsed, probably sent in his tagmatic reserves with the intention of delivering the coup de grâce to what he now considered a shattered foe.

As was often the case in such combat situations, the pursuing Byzantines ’ unit cohesion became increasingly disrupted and command control loosened as the retiring Bulgarians drew them ever farther northward toward the Aheloi River . Observing developments from his hilltop perch on the right flank, Simeon gauged the extent of Byzantine disorganization and northward penetration into the trap. When he deemed both sufficient, he signaled his commanders on the plain to turn their men about and strike their pursuers. At the same time, he personally led the reserve force out of concealment in the foothills and swept down on the exposed Byzantine left flank and rear. Some elements of the reserve may have struck southward to overrun the lightly defended Byzantine encampments. Apparently having committed his own reserves to the pursuit, Phokas possessed none to check the Bulgarians ’ flank assault. The unexpected and violent onslaught smashed into the Byzantines ’ disorganized lines. Whether Phokas was unhorsed in the fighting or seen to be fleeing the carnage that resulted, his actions were of small account amid the devastating psychological blow wreaked on the Byzantines by the sudden turn in the fighting. Fallen upon hard in front, flank, and rear by an enemy who had appeared beaten just a short time earlier, the Byzantine troops’ morale collapsed, their units disintegrated, and, forced back against the Black Sea shoreline, they fled the battlefield in whatever direction that lay open to them—north to the safety of Mesembria’s walls or south to the border beyond Ankhialos .

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