Chapter 5 Chapter Four: The War of the Byzantine Age Belisarius and Narses

After his final victory at the Battle of Munda, Caesar became permanent dictator of Rome and the Roman world.This was a fact which brought the constitutional government of Rome to an end and cleared the way for the transformation of the republic into an empire.Once an empire is born, it is also pregnant with embryos for its own collapse.However, its decline is very slow.Five hundred years passed between the triumph of Caesar and the final collapse of Rome.And after that, in another land, there was a Roman Empire, which continued to exist for a thousand years.This is because, first, in AD 330, Emperor Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium, that is, Constantinople; second, in AD 395, the Roman world officially Split into two empires, east and west.Eastern Rome had a longer fate.The Western Roman Empire was in decline due to the continuous attack and infiltration of the barbarians.At the end of the fifth century AD, with the establishment of the kingdoms of Gaul, Spain and Africa, Italy also became an independent kingdom, so even the nominal Western Roman emperor was abolished.

However, in the middle of the sixth century AD, thanks to the assistance of Eastern Rome, in the West, the ruling power of Rome was once revived.During Justinian I's reign in Constantinople, his generals reconquered Africa, Italy, and southern Spain.The achievement of these victories is mainly inseparable from the name of Belisarius, especially from his two famous achievements: first, he always used very few troops to complete the battle in pursuit of lofty goals; Two, he used defensive tactics systematically.A series of his military exploits are all obtained by means of not relying on offense.This can be said to be an unprecedented case.And, even more convincingly, the basis of his defensive army was a mobile cavalry force.Belisarius himself was not lacking in daring and courage, but his tactics were not only to create obstacles for the enemy, but he always tried to make the enemy think that it was more advantageous for him to attack first.His reliance on defensive means was partly due to the fact that he was always short of men, but also because of his tactical and psychological calculations.

Compared with the legionary army of Rome in the past, Belisarius' army is very different in organizational form. It is very close to the army in the form of the Middle Ages, but it is more developed and perfect.When the soldiers of Caesar's time saw them, they would hardly admit that they were the Roman army.However, those soldiers who followed Scipio to Africa may not be surprised to see their development.Throughout history, from Scipio to Caesar, Rome itself has changed from a city-state to an empire, and its army has changed from a short-term civic army to a long-term professional army.However, since the battle of Samar, although the cavalry has shown its importance, it has not mentioned the main position in the organizational structure of the Roman army.Infantry is still the main arm of the Roman Empire Army, while cavalry, although the horse breed has been greatly improved, is still just an auxiliary arm as it was in the early days of fighting Hannibal.Later, due to the needs of the imperial frontier struggle, it was necessary to improve the mobility of the troops, so the number of cavalry gradually expanded.Only in AD 378, when the Roman legion was defeated by the Gothic cavalry in the Battle of Adriano Pol, did the Roman Army learn its lessons and reorganize.But in later generations, it turned to the other extreme.In the era of Qiadoxiu's rule, in order to accelerate the expansion of mobile troops, a large number of barbarian cavalry was recruited, which increased the proportion of cavalry.In the following period, when recruiting troops, the ratio of infantry and cavalry tended to be roughly balanced again.In the era of Justinian and Belisarius, heavy cavalry became the main force.The riders of the heavy cavalry, dressed in armor, use spears and bows.The implementation of such a mutation is obviously to make every soldier who has undergone rigorous training have both mobile shooting power and impact power.The cavalry archers in the Hun and Persian armies, and the Gothic cavalry armed with pikes, each possessed this quality in proportion.As an auxiliary force for the heavy cavalry, light cavalry, a lightly armed archer cavalry, was formed.The combination of these two types of cavalry can be said to be a precedent for the combined use of modern light and heavy (medium) tanks, both in terms of organizational structure and tactical use.At the same time, infantry also began to be divided into two types, namely light and heavy.However, due to the use of heavy spears and dense battle formations, the latter can only serve as a solid pillar in battle, while the cavalry can perform various maneuvers around it.

At the beginning of the sixth century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire faced a dangerous situation.Its army suffered several disastrous defeats in the battles on the Persian frontier, and its position in the whole of Asia Minor began to be shaken.In a later period, as the Huns invaded Persia from the north, this pressure was relieved for a while.However, towards 525 A.D. wars broke out again on the frontier.However, the combat activities at this time were only sporadic and not systematic.At this time, Belisarius began to emerge.He led a cavalry force and carried out several successful attacks on the Persian possessions of Armenia.Later, when the Persians captured a frontier fort, he recaptured it in a daring counterattack.Comparing his success with the failures of other generals, Justinian was encouraged and promoted Belisarius to be commander-in-chief of the armies on the Eastern Front.At that time, Belisarius was not yet thirty years old.

In 530 AD, a Persian army with a total strength of 100,000 soldiers began to attack the Dara Fortress in Mesopotamia.Belisarius led troops to meet the enemy, but his strength could barely reach half of the enemy's, and most of them were recruits who had just been recruited not long ago and had no training.However, he didn't want to be trapped in the city, but decided to take risks and prepare for a battle with the enemy.At that time, he chose a favorable position, and after good preparations, he made the position both convenient for defensive action and offensive.But he was not satisfied with this, but carefully evaluated the enemy, thinking that the enemy was full of hatred for the Byzantines, relying on its superiority in military strength, it would definitely attack him first.He ordered a wide and deep trench to be dug in front of the fortress. The trench was not far from the city wall, just so that the troops guarding the trench could get shooting support from the city wall.Belisarius deployed his weaker infantry in trenches.At both ends of this trench, another trench was dug forward at right angles, and another transverse trench was dug in the direction where the two trenches led to the high ground on both sides of the valley.Between these flanking fortifications, some wide passages were also constructed.Belisarius arranged his heavy cavalry detachment along these flank fortifications, the purpose of which was to use them for counterattack.At the same time, he placed the light cavalry composed of the Huns in the two inner corners formed by trenches and trenches. Once the heavy cavalry on the two wings were driven back by the enemy, he could send light cavalry to assault the rear of the enemy in front of him. Reduced pressure on heavy cavalry.

After the Persians approached the fortress, they were first puzzled by the combat deployment of Bailey's withdrawal.So they spent the whole day on the first day conducting combat reconnaissance.The next morning, Belisarius sent a letter to the Persian commander-in-chief, advising him that it would be better not to meet with each other, but to settle the disputed issues by peaceful negotiations.Based on his research on archaeological excavations, Ksharitski once wrote in his letter: Peace is the greatest good.Anyone with any sense of reason will agree with this. Therefore, the greatest commander is the one who seeks to end war with peace.These were wise words, and still more rare to be uttered by a young general on the eve of his first great victory.However, the Persian coach gave him the answer: promises to the Romans can never be trusted.According to the coach, Belisa left him to send this letter and adopt defensive tactics, which is a manifestation of the opponent's fear.In this way, the Persians began to attack.However, they were also quite cautious and did not attack the central part, thinking that there was an obvious trap.However, this cautious attitude fell into Belisarius' trap.Because this not only dispersed their forces and weakened their attack power, but also limited their combat operations to dealing with the cavalry on both wings.For Belisarius, his cavalry is a unit that can rival the Persians, and there is not much less in number, so he is pinning his hopes on the cavalry.At that time, Belisarius' infantry could also use bows and arrows for more effective shooting.At that time, the range of Byzantine bows and arrows exceeded the Persians, and the armor of the Persians could not resist the sharp arrows of the Byzantines. On the contrary, the armor of the Byzantines could effectively protect the Persians. Bow and arrow.

The Persian cavalry attacked Belisarius' left flank first, and initially seemed to be making some progress.However, a detachment of light cavalry ambushed behind the high ground suddenly attacked the attacker's rear.This unexpected attack, coupled with the onslaught of the Hun cavalry on the Persian flank, forced the Persians to retreat.On the right flank, the Persian cavalry had advanced further, and had reached the foot of the city wall.And in this way, a gap appeared between the flanks of the attacking troops and the unmoved troops in the center.Therefore, Belisarius put all his cavalry into the gap.This counterattack pointed to the weak part of the Polish battle formation, forcing the Persian cavalry attacking the right flank to retreat in a hurry, which turned into a disorderly escape.This again gave Belisarius the opportunity to flank the Persian infantry in the center of the field.The Battle of Dara ended in the complete defeat of the Persians.For the first time in generations, Persia was defeated by the Byzantines.

After several setbacks, the Persian king began peace negotiations with Justinian's envoys.But while the peace talks were going on, the Persian ally, King Saracen, proposed a new plan of action, that is, to take an indirect approach to attack Byzantine power.He believed that instead of launching an attack on the Byzantine border, which has a strong city and strong soldiers, it is better to carry out a surprise attack in a direction that the enemy did not expect.The Persian side, having an army of the most mobile troops, should send it west of the Euphrates, across the desert, considered impassable, and directly attack Antioch, that is, one of the richest states in the Eastern Roman Empire. city ​​of.The plan was adopted by the Persians, and immediately put into practice.And it also proved that a properly organized and prepared army can cross the desert barrier.However, Belisarius also greatly improved the rapid movement ability of his troops at that time. He established a very efficient transportation network system along the national border, able to adopt the speed of forced march, and take pre-emptive measures against the enemy from north to south .He forced the invaders to go back the way they came, but only by driving the enemy away.His men were not very pleased with his self-restraint in combat.Knowing the dissatisfaction among the soldiers, Belisarius tried every means to prove them, so that the soldiers understood that the real victory lies in forcing the enemy to give up the established goal, while making the least possible sacrifice on their own side.If this goal is achieved, there is no need to fight to win the victory, which is the so-called don't chase the poor.There is no need to take risks when there is no need to take risks, because that may lead to failure, and if it fails, the empire may lose its defense ability when encountering a more dangerous enemy.As for the retreating enemy army, if it makes them feel that they have no way out, it will only increase their courage to survive from death.

These arguments seem to be too intellectualized, so it is difficult to convince those soldiers who are willing to shed blood.In order to maintain his influence over the troops, Belisarius decided to grant their wishes and allow them to continue the attack, but suffered a failure.This was the only failure that proved Belisarius' prophecy to be entirely correct.But the victory the Persians had won over their pursuers was costly, and they were still forced to retreat. After a successful defense in the East, Belisarius was soon sent to the West on an offensive mission.A century ago, the Vandals (a branch of the Germanic peoples) completed their southward migration. They occupied the African territories that belonged to Rome and established their capital in Carthage.Using this as a base, they continued to engage in large-scale piracy, sending troops to raid and plunder cities along the Mediterranean Sea.In AD 455 they also captured the city of Rome itself.Later, Constantinople sent a large conquest force to carry out the campaign, but they were defeated by them instead.After several generations, however, the luxury of life and the African sun had not only softened their national habits, but had begun to wear down their vitality.In AD 531, the Vandal king Cyriderus was overthrown by his belligerent nephew Grimmel and thrown into prison.King Hiridric had been friendly with Justinian in his youth, so Justinian wrote to Grimmel asking him to release his uncle.This request of Justinian was rejected, so he decided to send an expedition to Africa under the command of Belisarius in AD 533.However, the strength of this expeditionary force is limited, with a total of only 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry.Although this was a well-chosen army, its success is doubtful, because of the disparity in numbers. According to legend, the Vandals had an army of 100,000 men.

After Belisarius arrived in Sicily, he received exciting news that an uprising broke out in Sardinia, a territory of the Vandal Kingdom. The Vandals had transferred some of their elite soldiers there to suppress the uprising, and Grimmel I also left Carthage.Of course Belisarius was unwilling to lose this opportunity, and he immediately set sail for Africa.In order to avoid the interception of the powerful Vandal fleet, he landed at a place nine days away from Carthage.After Grimmel learned of the news, he immediately ordered the troops to gather near Adsimium.There is a narrow area, on the road leading to Carthage, only sixteen kilometers from Carthage.Grimmel wanted to surround the enemy there.However, his plan was shattered by Belisarius.Belisarius launched an extremely rapid offensive on land, while at the same time threatening Carthage from the sea.When the Vandal army was still concentrated, Belisarius took advantage of the gap and made the Vandals panic.A series of battles ensued, further confusing the Vandal forces.Therefore, instead of defeating Belisarius, they fled everywhere by themselves, clearing a way for Belisarius and allowing him to seize the city of Carthage.After that, Grimmel regrouped his troops and ordered the expeditionary force to be transferred back from Sardinia to prepare for a counterattack.At the same time, Belisarius repaired the fortifications of Carthage, which had become dilapidated and difficult to use under the Vandals.

During the months that followed, the Vandals made several attempts to drive the Romans out of the city, but without success.After this, Belisarius estimated that the morale of the Vandals had been low, so he decided to take a risk and attack the Vandals.He believes that if the attack fails, his army will have a place to retreat, and there will be a city wall as a cover.He advanced with his cavalry, approached the Vandal camp of Tricameron behind a river, and began fighting without waiting for the infantry to arrive.His attempt at that time seems to have been to show his weakness, to induce the enemy to attack, and then, when the enemy crossed the river, to attack him.But his feigned attack, and the subsequent false retreat, failed to induce the Vandals, who refused to cross the river in pursuit.Belisarius then seized upon the weakness of the Vandals' excessive caution, and, without hindrance, sent a considerable part of his force across the river, first of all exerting pressure on the central part of the Vandal army, and drawing the enemy's attention. After all the forces were attracted there, the attack was launched across the board. The Vandal resistance was soon crushed, and the remnants of their forces fled into the barracks, surrounded by wooden palisades.Grimmel himself escaped from the barracks that night.When the troops got the news, they fled automatically.Belisarius immediately organized a pursuit and captured Grimmel on the way, thus successfully ending the war.This war to recover Roman African possessions seemed to be a very risky gamble at first, but in the actual process, it appeared to be very easy and simple. This easy victory inspired Justinian to make another attempt to retake Italy and Sicily from the Ostrogoths in AD 535, but his principle was to spend as little cost as possible .To the north, Justinian sent a small army up the Dalmatian coast.At the same time, the Franks were lured to attack the Ostrogoths from the north by providing subsidies as bait.Under the cover of this strategy of attacking east and west, Justinian ordered Belisarius to lead an expeditionary force of 12,000 people to Sicily, and instructed him to threaten when he arrived that he was just passing by, saying that the force was fake. Road to Carthage.If Sicily is not prepared to resist him, then Belisarius must immediately occupy the island, otherwise, he should calm down, re-board the ship and sail away without getting entangled in the battle.In fact, Belisarius encountered no difficulties in capturing Sicily.The cities of Sicily, though well received by their former conquerors, welcomed Belisarius warmly as their protector and liberator.The Ostrogoths' garrison in Sicily was modest, and they offered no serious resistance to him.Of course, there is the exception of the Palermo City Defense Team.For this city, Belisarius used tricks to win it.However, in contrast to Belisarius' victory in Sicily, the Byzantine army that invaded Dalmatia suffered a disastrous defeat.But reinforcements were soon there, and the offensive resumed.At the same time, Belisarius also crossed the Strait of Messina and began to invade the Italian peninsula. Due to the fierce internal strife among the Goths and the negligence of their king, Belisarius was able to travel unimpeded in southern Italy and arrived in Naples very smoothly.Naples was then a strongly fortified fortress, with a garrison roughly equal in strength to that of Belisarius.Belisarius was blocked here for a while, and finally, by chance, he found an abandoned waterway and found a shortcut to attack the city's fortress.He sent a small group of elite soldiers to enter the city through narrow tunnels, and at night they responded from inside and outside, attacking from the rear and front at the same time, and finally captured the city. The news of the fall of Naples immediately caused a strong panic among the Goths, and people rose up against the king.So a rather resolute general, Vitigues, rose to replace him and got the throne.Wittigs approached the situation with a purely military point of view.He believed that the war against the Franks must be ended before concentrating forces against new invaders.According to this view, he left only a small force to defend Rome, thinking that such a force was sufficient to hold the city, while he himself led the army northward to attack the Franks.However, the inhabitants of Rome did not agree with him, and the garrison believed that the city would be difficult to hold without the assistance of the inhabitants.Thus Belisarius took the city of Rome without any difficulty, for the garrison had deserted the city without a fight. Wittigs regretted it too late.Although it was too late, he still made a decision. After buying peace from the Franks at the price of gold and land, he immediately gathered an army of 150,000 to take back Rome.The force that Belisarius can use to defend the city of Rome just reaches 10,000.However, he took advantage of the three-month gap before the enemy's siege began to strengthen the city's fortifications and store sufficient food.In addition, he also adopted an active defensive method, that is, continuous well-organized sorties, in which Belisarius made full use of his superior cavalry.His cavalry, armed with bows and arrows, thwarted the Gothic cavalry at ranges beyond the reach of the Gothic cavalry, who were armed only with spears.Sometimes, he also lures the Gothic Lancers to make a blind charge.Despite the small number of troops defending the city and suffering from excessive fatigue and mental stress, the siege army lost troops faster than them, especially when disease was epidemic.In order to relieve the pressure of the siege, Belisarius decided to take an adventure.He divided two detachments from his own small force and asked them to take the method of surprise attack to capture the two cities of Tivoli and Tracina, so as to control the food supply road of the besieging enemy.When reinforcements arrived in Byzantium, he expanded the activities of this rapid detachment from the Adriatic coast to Ravenna, the main base of the Goths. Finally, after a year of siege, the Goths gave up their attempt to attack the city and retreated north.They retreated because they had received word that a Byzantine force had taken Rimini, which was not far from their base at Ravenna.While the Gothic rearguard was crossing the Morfin Bridge, Belisarius launched a violent attack on them, and they suffered heavy losses. When Vitigues retreated northeast to Ravenna, Belisarius sent some troops to advance north along the west coast by sea in order to seize Pavia and Milan.And Belisarius himself led a team of only 3,000 people to march towards the east coast in order to join the reinforcements that had just landed there.The support army consisted of 7,000 men and was commanded by Narses.As soon as the divisions were joined, he began a forced march to the aid of the detachment besieged at Rimini by the Gothic army.Belisarius resorted to camouflage to escape the eyes and ears of the Goths stationed at the fortress of Osimo.There, there were 25,000 Ostrogoths stationed there, but Belisarius divided his troops into two marching columns, quietly bypassed the fortress, and rushed directly to Rimini.In addition, he also allocated part of his troops to march in by sea.By dividing his forces into three lines of attack in this way, his purpose was to give the Goths the impression that he had a large number of troops.In order to strengthen this impression, he bluffed at night, deliberately setting up a campfire and posing a fire dragon.At that time, Belisarius's name alone was enough to arouse fear in Coth, and he resorted to this ruse.added to his success.As a result, the Ostrogothic army, which was much more numerous than him, fled in terror as soon as he arrived. After lifting the siege of Rimini, Belisarius on the one hand monitored Vitigues' actions in Ravenna; Those fortresses he had weaved around in his rapid march.Due to the limited force, it is not easy for him to complete this task.The method he took was to first isolate and isolate those important fortresses, and then conquer them.At the same time, he sent detachments of rapid movement to a certain distance to serve as screens to prevent the enemy's fresh troops from approaching the besieged fortresses.It took a lot of time to complete this task.Because some of the generals under Belisarius were related to the court, they did not obey his dispatch, and looked for targets that were easy to deal with or relatively wealthy, which prolonged the time even more.At this time, Vitigues sent envoys to Frank and Persia respectively, suggesting that they unite to fight against the Byzantine Empire and attack from two directions while its army is still scattered over a wide area. .His purpose, of course, is to stop the advance of the Byzantine expeditionary force as soon as possible.King Frank agreed to this proposal, and immediately led a large army across the Alps into Italy. The first to suffer a big loss was the possible ally the Goths expected.When the Goths had let them cross the Po near Pavia, they attacked the Gothic and Byzantine forces facing each other with such unceremoniousness that both were caught off guard and fled.Then, they plundered all around.Frank's army consisted almost entirely of infantry, and the area in which they could procure and plunder food was limited, so that hundreds of soldiers soon died of starvation from a self-inflicted famine.Weakened by their folly, the Franks could hardly advance in the face of Belisarius' swift troops.Belisarius had no difficulty in coaxing them back home.So, he immediately increased the pressure on Ravenna, and finally forced Vitigues to surrender. In 540 AD, Belisarius was recalled by Justinian to deal with the new threat from Persia.The real cause, however, seems to have been envy, and the fear of Justinian, for he had heard rumors that the Goths, in appealing to Belisarius for peace, had decided to recognize him as emperor of the West. . Just as Belisarius was returning home, Josros, the new king of Persia, also completed another march across the desert and occupied the city of Antioch.He reduced this city and several other Syrian cities to ruins, and then concluded a new peace on the condition that Justinian promised to send a lot of money every year.However, Belisarius returned to Constantinople just after Joseros returned to Persia, so Justinian immediately tore up the treaty. In the next battle, Josros attacked Korcis on the Black Sea coast and occupied the fortress of Petna.At this moment, Belisarius reached the eastern border of the empire.When he learned that Joss Ross had set off on an expedition, although he didn't know his true whereabouts, he immediately seized this opportunity and immediately took a surprise attack to attack Persia.In order to expand his military operations, he sent the Arab Allied Forces to advance along the Tigris River and into Asiria.This was a very well-timed attack, and it just proved the value of the indirect route, as their military operations threatened the supply bases of the Persian army attacking Corchis, thus forcing Joss Ross to rush with his troops Come back. Belisarius was recalled to Constantinople shortly afterwards.This time it was due to the internal affairs of the empire.Immediately after Belisarius left the East, the Persian king entered Palestine.His intention was to take Jerusalem, which was by far the richest city in the East since the fall of Antioch.After Justinian received the information, he immediately sent Belisarius to Palestine for rescue.This time, Josros was leading an army of two hundred thousand men, so, unable to cross Samot, he marched along the banks of the Euphrates, entered Syria first, and then turned south to attack Palestine.Belisarius judged that Joseros would definitely take such a marching route, so he gathered all the troops he could concentrate, although they were small in number but highly mobile, they were all assembled in Karhimich.The city was situated just above the Euphrates, from which Belisarius' army could take advantage of the southward bend of the river to threaten the flank of the attacking forces in the best possible way.After receiving the news that Belisarius had concentrated his forces, Joss Ross immediately sent envoys to meet with Belisarius, pretending to discuss possible peace terms.But its real purpose is to scout Belisarius' military strength and deployment.In fact, Belisarius's military strength at that time was much smaller than that of Persia, perhaps only one-tenth, or even one-twentieth of it. Belisarius guessed the enemy's intentions, so he resorted to tricks and turned into a military trick.He selected a group of the strongest soldiers, including the Goths, Vandals and Moors who had been turned to serve him after being captured, and placed them in the front part of the marching line, that is, in front of the Persian envoys. On the way he passed, in order to give him the impression that what he saw in front of him was just the outpost of a large army.At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to spread out on the plain, and kept moving back and forth, showing that there were many troops.Belisarius himself showed a very reserved and confident attitude, while his troops reflected a high-spirited style, as if everyone was indifferent to the attack of the Persians.In this way, the impression of the Persian envoy was further enhanced.The envoy's report to the king, therefore, convinced him that it would be too risky to press on, and that Belisarius had sufficient forces to endanger the flank of his communications. Later, Belisarius sent cavalry to make a false maneuver along the Euphrates River, forcing the Persians to retreat across the river, and finally they returned to their hometown.There is no precedent in history for such a strategic and economical way to force back a menacing large-scale offensive.This miraculous result was obtained entirely by using an indirect route, and this indirect route mainly used psychological factors. Belisarius was again recalled to Constantinople.This is because Justinian was jealous of his growing prestige and had suspicions about him.But soon, due to the implementation of incorrect policies, the rule of the Byzantine Empire in Italy was in jeopardy again.The situation forced Justinian to resend Belisarius to Italy to clean up the mess.However, the emperor was too stingy and jealous, and the troops and weapons he allocated to the commander were so weak that it was difficult to use this force to complete the task.When Belisarius arrived at Ravenna, his difficulties increased more markedly.Under the leadership of their new king Totila, the Goths gradually recovered their military strength, reoccupied the northwestern part of Italy, and began to develop to the south.They had captured Naples and were further threatening the city of Rome.Belisarius took a valiant but unsuccessful effort to save Rome.He sent a force to sail close to the coast and enter the Tiber River.Totila, however, destroyed the fortifications of Rome, leaving behind a force of about fifteen thousand men, and pinned down Belisarius' seven thousand men on the coast.And he himself led the army to advance northward, trying to seize Ravenna while Belisarius was away.Belisarius, however, outmaneuvered his foe with clever maneuvers.He sneaked into the city of Rome secretly, trying to use the city of Rome as a bait, so that the Goths would not come to take the bait.In the three months before Totila returned with the army, Belisarius repaired all the city defenses except one gate.He then repelled two rather violent attacks of the enemy and inflicted heavy losses on the Goths.In this way, the self-confidence of the enemy began to be shaken.When they made a third attack, Belisarius defeated them with a counterattack and forced them to retreat.The next day the Goths lifted the siege of Rome and retreated to Tivoli. Although Belisarius repeatedly asked for additional reinforcements, Justinian only sent him a small amount of supplementary troops.Therefore, it is impossible for Belisarius to regain all the lost ground.In the next few years, he could only run around between the enemy's fortress and the port to carry out some storms and assaults.Finally, he finally despaired.He realized that Justinian would no longer trust him, and it was impossible to give him a sufficient number of troops.He therefore resigned in AD 548, and having been granted permission, he returned to Constantinople. 四年以後，由於對自己放棄義大利感到遺憾，查士丁尼又決定派遣新的遠征軍。但他還是不願意讓貝利撒留當統帥，害怕為自己樹立強而有力的競爭者。於是，他任命了納爾塞斯。納爾塞斯是一個以軍事理論家出名的人物。在貝利撒留第一次遠征義大利的結束階段，即奪取最後勝利的階段，他曾經有機會顯過身手，實際上顯示了自己的統帥藝術。 納爾塞斯充分利用了提供給他的這個有利機會。他首先提出一個條件，只有給他一支真正強大而且裝備精良的軍隊，才肯接受總指揮官的職務。他得到了那樣一支軍隊，並且立即率領這支大軍沿著亞得里亞海岸向北進發。他的進軍，由於哥特人線上路上的估計錯誤而得到了很大的便利。哥特人當時估計，納爾塞斯必將從海道進入義大利。他們認為，如果沿著海岸線的道路進軍，那就要逾越許多的河流渡口，因而是很困難的。然而，納爾塞斯卻還是走的這條路。他徵集了大批的船隻，並使這些船隻沿著海岸開進，陸軍遇到河流渡口，即用這些船隻搭成浮橋。因此，他進軍速度之快，超出人們意料之外，幾乎沒有遇到什麼抵抗就到達了拉文納。到達以後，他沒有浪費一點時間，馬上折轉向南，迂迴繞過前進道路上的許多要塞，其目的是要趕在托蒂拉還來不及集中其全部兵力之前就迫他進行會戰。托蒂拉扼守著亞平寧山地的主要通道，但納爾塞斯卻從翼側迂迴過了這條通道，前出到達塔吉納。 以前，貝利撒留在每一個戰局中，總是感到兵力不足，這一次，納爾塞斯卻擁有超過哥特人的優勢兵力。雖然如此，納爾塞斯還是想使自己的戰略攻勢產生最大的效果，所以在遇到托蒂拉時，他卻轉而在戰術上採取了守勢。他考慮到，哥特人在本性上富於進攻精神，因此，決定誘使哥特人首先進攻，而自己卻採取機動戰術來迎擊他們。這正是英國人在後來所效法的一個榜樣。八百年以後，英國人在克勒西會戰中用來攻擊法國騎兵的戰術，就和納爾塞斯的戰術完全一樣。哥特人素來看不起拜占廷的步兵，認為他們經不起騎兵的衝擊。納爾塞斯正好充分利用了哥特人的這種自信心理。他把一支頗大的徒步騎兵，即下馬的騎兵，擺在自己戰鬥隊形的中央部位。這支騎兵使用的是長槍，因此，哥特人看見他們，就好像是一大群使用長矛的步兵。而在這支騎兵的兩翼，納爾塞斯配置的是弓箭手，並讓他們稍向前方突出，形成一個半月形，其距離正好使他們的箭可以射倒突入中央的敵人。其餘大量的騎兵，則配置在弓箭手的後面。距離左翼不遠的地方，在一個高地的反斜面上，還埋伏著一支精選的騎兵。這支騎兵的任務是，要在敵人的主力投入戰鬥以後，立即繞到其後方，對哥特人實施突然襲擊。 納爾塞斯的巧妙安排達到了自己的目的。哥特人果然認為中央是一些不可靠的步兵，所以出動騎兵向他們突擊。在他們開始衝擊的時候，由於遭受兩翼弓箭的射擊，遭到了嚴重的傷亡，而後，在正面又為堅定不移的徒步槍騎兵所阻。這時，弓箭手大大發揮了弓箭的作用，並開始從兩翼包圍哥特騎兵。至此，哥特的步兵卻不敢前來援救自己的騎兵，因為他們害怕來自後面的攻擊，納爾塞斯配置在高地翼側的騎兵弓箭手，也正在威脅著他們的安全。哥特騎兵對拜占廷人的中央部位進行了幾次衝擊，結果毫無成效，最後不得不撤退下來。納爾塞斯立即抓住這個時機，馬上進行反突擊。而進行這個反突擊的基本力量，就是拜占廷的騎兵。這次會戰使哥特人遭到了毀滅性的打擊。此後，納爾塞斯在重新佔領整個義大利的過程中，幾乎再也沒有遇到什麼嚴重的抵抗了。 納爾塞斯在制服哥特人以後，正好騰出了手腳，接著又打敗了法朗克這個新的對手。法朗克人接受了哥特人最後求救的呼籲，特地派兵前來助戰。這一次，法朗克人的進軍比其以前幾次都要深遠，一直前進到了坎帕尼亞。納爾塞斯看來已接受了第一次進擊的經驗，他指望敵人自己去鑽自己結好的吊頸圈套，因此，在法朗克步兵還沒有因行軍和疾病而大大消耗削弱以前，他便一直避免戰鬥。到了西元五百五十三年，當納爾塞斯準備好要在凱西里倫附近同法朗克人進行會戰時，法朗克人的兵力大概還有八萬之眾。在這裡，納爾塞斯考慮到法朗克人的戰術特點，誘使他們落入了陷阱。法朗克的軍隊主要是由步兵組成。在進攻時，總是使用一個深度很大的縱隊，而且具有很大的重力和衝力。而其步兵所裝備的武器，又都是近戰武器，即長矛、戰斧和劍之類。 在凱西里倫會戰中，納爾塞斯把徒步的長矛兵和弓箭手擺在戰鬥隊形的中央。法朗克人指向中央的突擊，壓迫他們逐步後退。這時，納爾塞斯馬上展開了配置在兩翼的騎兵，發動騎兵向法朗克人的翼側實行突擊。這樣，迫使法朗克人立即停止了進攻，並就地展開以抵抗衝擊。但納爾塞斯沒有同他們糾纏，因為他知道，敵人的隊形還是極其牢固的，只有依靠直接的打擊，才有可能把他們摧毀。於是，他把騎兵調到一個適當的位置上，使其能夠用投斧去打擊敵人，並使弓箭手能夠進行集中的射擊，而又不致於打亂自己方面密集的戰鬥隊形，同時，卻使法朗克人不能夠進行反擊。最後，當法朗克人無法抵住弓箭的射擊，戰鬥隊形遭到破壞，而且開始很謹慎地向後撤退時，納爾塞斯又馬上利用了這一有利時機，進行了具有決定意義的突擊。這次突擊徹底打散了法朗克的部隊，幾乎是把他們殺得片甲不留。 初看起來，貝利撒留和納爾塞斯所進行的各個戰局，其意義似乎是戰術重於戰略，因為其中的許多行動都是直接與會戰有關，與其他許多名將進行的戰局比較起來，缺乏破壞敵人交通線的成功機動。然而，仔細地加以研究，就會得出另外一個結論。貝利撒留實際上創立了一種新型的戰術。他利用這種戰術，迫使敵軍在對他有利的條件下首先發起進攻，因而能夠擊敗在數量上佔有很大優勢的敵軍。在這種情況下，甚至他的兵力劣勢，當然是指不大的劣勢，也成了一種優點。而在直接地實行勇敢的戰略規模的進攻時，情形更是如此。所以，他的戰略的著眼點，首先是心理因素，其次才是廣泛的機動。對於西方蠻族的軍隊，貝利撤留能夠利用他們那種本能的進攻特性，而在同比較狡猾又比較有文化的波斯人作戰時，他便首先利用他們對於拜占廷人的優越感，以此去作誘敵工具，而後，通過戰鬥勝利，迫使這些東方蠻人對他產生敬畏心理，接著又馬上利用敵人的小心謹慎態度，在心理上壓倒敵人，佔據上風。 貝利撒留具有一種高超的藝術，能把自己的弱點變成有用的力量，而把敵人的實力變成他們的弱點。他的戰術的特點也就在於採用間接路線；他總是首先打亂敵人的戰鬥隊形，尋找其各個部隊之間的接合部，認為這是敵人最薄弱的環節，而後在這裡進攻，把敵人打敗。 在進行第一次義大利戰局的過程中，貝利撒留的朋友曾經私下問他，當他面對著那樣一支有著巨大優勢兵力的敵軍時，他怎麼還能保持必勝的信心。他回答說，在同哥特人進行第一次戰鬥時，他就認真研究了他們的弱點，發現哥特人在戰鬥中不能協調一致地使用自己的全部力量。而其原因，一方面是部隊數量太多，兵力過大，很難靈活調度；另一方面，則是哥特騎兵缺乏經驗，儘管這支騎兵是由優秀的騎手組成，但他們只受過長矛和短劍的訓練，而且他們的徒步弓箭手，也只習慣於在騎兵的掩護下作戰。因此，哥特騎兵只能在近戰中進行有成效的作戰，而當對方的騎兵在遠距離上利用弓箭向他們攻擊時，他們便毫無抵抗的能力。至於哥特人的徒步弓箭手，則是任何時候都不敢冒險，不敢在開闊地形上面對敵人的騎兵。結果，哥特人的騎兵經常都是往前靠，力求靠近敵人，保持近戰距離。這樣，也就常常使自己在不利的條件下進入戰鬥。而每當掩護步兵的騎兵脫離太遠的時候，步兵也就落後，甚至後退，因而它們之間的協同動作將被破壞，於是，在步兵與騎兵之間便要出現缺口。這個時候，正好可以從翼側實施反突擊。 貝利撒留的戰術體系和防禦｜進攻戰略，構成了拜占廷帝國的軍事基礎。在以後的幾個世紀中，西歐進入了中世紀的黑暗時代，而拜占廷帝國卻繼續維持了它的地位和羅馬的傳統。從拜占廷的兩本著名軍事學教科書中，即從毛里塞皇帝的《戰略學》和李阿的《戰術學》中，還可以看到這些作戰方法和軍事組織的進一步發展。後世的拜占廷帝國還是足夠強大的，它不僅多次抵禦了蠻族的入侵，而且當伊斯蘭教徒征服了波斯帝國之後，它甚至還頂住了伊斯蘭教徒的進犯。雖然週邊的地區喪失了，但是拜占廷帝國的主要堡壘卻並未發生動搖，而且，從九世紀巴西爾一世開始執政以後，那些失去的土地便逐漸得到收復。到了十一世紀初葉，在巴西爾二世的統治下，拜占廷帝國的勢力，又達到了查士丁尼時代那樣的最高峰。這就是說，在五百年以後，帝國比查土丁尼時代更加強盛和安全了。 可是，在巴西爾二世死後，只經過了五十年，拜占廷帝國的安全又受到了威脅，後來，它的前途甚至是在幾個小時之內被決定了。由於長期沒有受到外來的威脅，它的軍事預算被不斷削減，結果使陸軍的兵力銳減了，而且其內部也開始腐化。而在此時，塞爾朱克｜土耳其人的國力卻不斷增大。他們自阿爾普‧阿爾斯南於一○六三年執政以後，開始擴大軍備。也就是在這時，一○六三年以後，拜占廷人才開始覺醒，準備重整軍備。一○六八年，為了應付外來的危險，羅曼‧多格尼斯將軍被擁戴做了皇帝。這位皇帝本來應該拿出若干時間來訓練軍隊和恢復部隊的戰力，可是他卻沒有這樣做，而是過早地採取了進攻行動。由於在幼發拉底河上獲得了初步的勝利，羅曼‧多格尼斯便率領大軍深入到了亞美尼亞，在曼齊克爾特附近遇上了土耳其軍隊的主力。當時，阿爾普‧阿爾斯南看到拜占廷的軍容頗盛，數量很大，曾經建議進行談判，和平地解決爭端。可是，羅曼‧多格尼斯卻堅持要土耳其蘇丹在和談開始之前撤出營地，實行後退。這當然是一種面子上的損失，阿爾普‧阿爾斯南是很難接受的。羅曼‧多格尼斯在遭到阿爾普‧阿爾斯南的拒絕以後，立即轉入了進攻，而且他違背了拜占廷的軍事傳統，使自己的部隊一味地前進，前進。他力圖追上敵人，可是敵人卻靈活機敏，不可捉摸，因而接近敵人的企圖無法達到。而在此時，土耳其的騎兵弓箭手卻不斷地對他進行阻擾，妨礙著拜占廷部隊的前進。到了天黑的時候，他的部隊已經筋疲力竭，戰鬥隊形混亂不堪。羅曼這才不得不命令部隊撤退。但是已經晚了。土耳其人從兩翼夾攻而來，使拜占廷軍隊完全崩潰了、瓦解了。 這場慘敗使得拜占廷帝國從此一蹶不振，土耳其人不久就搶佔了小亞細亞的大部分地區。由於國家統帥只具備匹夫之勇，徒有進攻的精神，而缺乏健全的思維能力，因而使國家遭受如此重大的打擊，以致從此再也不能振作起來。然而儘管如此，一個微弱的拜占廷帝國還是在縮小了的範圍裡繼續存在著，它以後還延續了四百年。