…against Slavs & Eurasian Steppe Peoples.
"Already from the Early Byzantine Period and during the Middle Period, the Byzantines faced several nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes, Altaic and some Northern Iranian. In the European imperial borders they faced the Black Huns, some Late Sarmatian tribes (Proto-Serbians and Proto-Croats who were not Slavic yet, Alanic groups etc.), the Avars, some Late Hunnic tribes (Proto-Bulgarians, Kutrigours, Outigurs, Saragurs, Onogurs and others), the Pecheneges ("Patzinakes" according to the Byzantines), the Uzes (Uzoi), the Cumans ("Kipchak" in their own Turkic/Turkish language, and "Polovtsy" in the Eastern Slavic language) and others. In the same period, the Byzantines faced in Asia Minor the Seljuks and other Turcoman (Turkmen/Oguz) tribes. On the other hand, the Byzantine army consisted partly of many mercenaries, mainly horse-archers from almost all the above mentioned peoples with the addition of the Magyars (proto-Hungarians), the Kavars (proto-Hungarians also), the Khazars and the Alans.
The battle tactics of the nomadic peoples were very difficult to treat by the Byzantine or any other imperial army that attempted to confront them. The Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Chinese, Indians, Chorasmians (Central Asian Iranians) and other peoples with mainly agricultural economy, suffered devastating defeats by these demonic horsemen of the steppes. The superiority of the nomad fighting tactics, was due to the use of a compination of very fast horsemen (who were additionally keen archers) and heavily armored cavalry (sometimes protected by full body armor including their horses) equipped with a long lance ("kontos"). The nomads, while generally few in number, were excellent archers and horsemen, frugal and indomitable, with blazing maneuvering and masters of surprise. During the clashes and battles, the nomadic horse-archers "hammered" the enemy soldiers with a barrage of bowshots, while maintaining a safe distance. They attacked frontally with a sword (or an alpeen) only if they ascertained that the opposing army had been disorganized by their arrows. The nomads were masters of the ancient battle tactic of the steppe peoples, called the "feigned retreat" which they usually used when they faced a superior enemy. When applying the "feigned retreat", they pretended that they were defeated and started to retreat disorderly, thus dragging the enemy army in a rapid march, which led to the disruption of its ranks. So the disorganized enemy became "easy prey" for the nomadic horsemen (horse-archers and cataphracts), who abruptly interrupted their retreat following the relevant orders (sign) of their commander, they made "about-face" with their horses and counterattacked, crashing the surprised enemy. The nomad feigned retreat could last for some minutes or continue for several days…"
Full text here
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Part II here
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Amicalement
Armand