Appointment and types of rear support. Logistics and technical support in combat. for special training

the beauty

"Everything new is just a well-forgotten old" - says folk wisdom. This proverb often works in military affairs. One of the most striking examples is connected with the Russian Prince Svyatoslav's campaign in Bulgaria in 971. In the battle near Dorostol, the Russians successfully returned from oblivion a tactical find of the ancient Greeks - a foot phalanx of spearmen. Opponents of Svyatoslav, the Byzantines, had a numerical superiority and strong cavalry, but they could not crush the tactics invented one and a half thousand years before Dorostol.

Russian prince Svyatoslav (reigned: 945-972) went down in history as an outstanding warrior and commander. It was his campaigns that destroyed the Khazar Khaganate, a strong state in the Caspian Sea, which constantly threatened the southern and eastern borders of Kievan Rus. In 967, the prince, wishing to expand the boundaries of his possessions (his interest was primarily in control of trade routes), begins the first campaign in Bulgaria. The campaign, supported by the nomadic Pechenegs under the neutrality of Byzantium, led by Emperor Nicephorus Phocas (there is a version that it was the Byzantines who wanted to weaken Bulgaria with the hands of Svyatoslav), was successful. Svyatoslav even intended to move the capital to the city of Pereyaslavets he had captured, about which, as the Russian Tale of Bygone Years tells, he directly stated to his mother, Princess Olga: “I don’t like to sit in Kyiv, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - for there is the middle of the earth mine, all good things flow there: from the Greek land - gold, curtains, wines, various fruits, from the Czech Republic and from Hungary silver and horses, from Russia furs and wax, honey and slaves.

Campaigns of Svyatoslav in Bulgaria. The circle highlights the area of hostilities with Byzantium in 971 - from Pereyaslavets to Dorostol.

However, subsequent events completely turned these plans upside down. First, the former allies, the Pechenegs, who were unlikely to like the expansionist intentions of Svyatoslav, took advantage of the fact that Kyiv was left without protection, and tried to take the Russian capital. The raid was repulsed, but Svyatoslav was forced to return with his army to Russia in order to secure Kyiv. There, too, not the warmest welcome awaited him - the people of Kiev blamed the prince for throwing them to the mercy of the steppes. In Byzantium itself, meanwhile, there was coup d'état: Nikephoros Phocas was overthrown and killed, and the throne was taken by John Tzimisces, a talented military leader, favorite of the wife of the deceased emperor Theophano.

Returning to the Danube, Svyatoslav found that the situation had changed dramatically not in his favor. The "Greeks", as the Russian chronicles call the Byzantines (they themselves called themselves "Romans", i.e. Romans), actively ousted the Russians from Bulgaria. In response, the Russian prince with a 30,000-strong army, which, by the way, included Hungarian allies and Pecheneg tribes loyal to the Rus, invaded Byzantium in 970. The prince moved to Adrianople, where he met with the army of the Romans. Each of the parties subsequently attributed the victory in the battle to itself, so we can only state that the opponents suffered serious losses and this forced them to agree to a truce.

Prince of Kyiv Svyatoslav Igorevich. Illustration according to the descriptions of contemporaries (in particular, the Byzantine historian Leo the Deacon).

The respite was short-lived. Already in the spring of 971, the Byzantines, taking advantage of the fact that Svyatoslav did not occupy the mountain passes through the Balkans and did not leave a barrier on the Danube, again brought their troops to Bulgaria. The Romans quickly convinced the local population that living at the hand of a rich and cultural empire is much better than submitting to the conqueror from Russia. Svyatoslav with his army was left alone in hostile territory against the strong army of Tzimiskes. The Byzantines managed to take Pereyaslavets, and the main Russian forces, led by the prince, were locked in a siege in the fortress of Dorostol.

From a strategic point of view, the situation for Svyatoslav became almost hopeless. The only thing he could count on was the fact that Tzimiskes had only recently taken the throne, and his position in the empire was still rather precarious. The Russians needed not only to organize a stubborn protracted defense, but also to properly beat up the emperor’s troops in order to cause a quiet murmur behind his back. In addition, a successful field battle gave a chance to break the siege ring. True, this required a decisive victory: in a post about the deeds of another Russian prince, Oleg, I already mentioned that the Russian army, which went on long trips on boats, was due to the peculiarities of these ships exclusively on foot.

In general, the prince, we must give him his due, understood the situation well, which eventually made it possible to save the army. The siege of Dorostol lasted three months, from April 23 to July 22, and the Russian army regularly staged sorties. But it was not possible to break the siege - the problem was that as soon as the Russian infantry moved away from the walls, it immediately found itself under the threat of encirclement. The last and decisive battle began on the morning of July 22: the Russian prince withdrew from the fortress almost all the forces available to him - about 20 thousand people. The troops of Tzimisces numbered more than twice as many, in addition, the Byzantines had strong cavalry.

Battle of Dorostol. Battle scheme.

To compensate for the inequality of forces, the Russian prince used a Greek tactical technique against the "Greeks". The Byzantine writer and historian Leo Deacon, a contemporary of these events, writes that the Russians lined up, "closing shields and spears, like a wall." The reader who is familiar with the previous blog notes will probably immediately understand what it is about: this is the famous Greek and Macedonian phalanx, invented one and a half thousand years before Dorostol!

I note that Svyatoslav not only borrowed this technique from his own opponents, but also improved it. The Russian phalanx was built in two lines: the first, of ten rows, delivered a ramming blow, and the second traditionally guarded the most vulnerabilities formations - flanks and rear: on the first order, the soldiers turned around and repelled the enemy's blow. But still, Svyatoslav could not completely get rid of the shortcomings of the phalanx - some sluggishness and vulnerability during roundabout maneuvers of the enemy, and the battle near Dorostol confirmed this.

Initially, success accompanied the Russians. Even Leo the Deacon admits that the powerful blow of the phalanx noticeably pressed the Byzantine infantry. If not for the personal intervention of Tzimisces, who with a detachment of horsemen stopped the retreat, Svyatoslav could even count on victory. But it was not possible to finally overthrow the "Greeks", moreover, the advancing Russian troops moved away from the fortress. The Byzantines immediately took advantage of this: their cavalry made a quick detour maneuver and surrounded the Russians.

An episode of the battle of Dorostol: the Russian phalanx against the Byzantine cavalry. Modern illustration.

It was Svyatoslav's turn to demonstrate his ability to command troops on the battlefield. Here the very improvement of the phalanx, which was invented by the Russian prince, came in handy. The second line of phalangites delayed the attack of the cavalry and allowed the Russians to reorganize for all-round defense. The encirclement ring from the rear was rather weak, so Svyatoslav logically decided to strike towards the fortress. The Russian army broke through the ranks of the enemy and retreated back to Dorostol. The battle ended in a draw.

Leo the Deacon writes that about 15,000 Russians and only about 300 Byzantines fell in the battle. The numbers are more than doubtful: with such a defeat, Svyatoslav could only surrender to the mercy of the winner! However, there was no talk of any surrender: the Russian prince proposed peace negotiations, and Tzimiskes accepted his offer. Last fact indirectly indicates that the army of the Byzantine emperor was also pretty battered, otherwise what prevented him from finishing off the troops of Svyatoslav and taking the fortress? The terms of the peace were quite acceptable for the Russians: they were guaranteed free passage to their homeland and even provisions, in exchange for the obligation not to fight with Byzantium. True, the conquered Bulgarian lands also had to be abandoned, while eastern Bulgaria was ceded to Tzimiskes. Nevertheless, not a bad outcome for the conflict, which threatened Svyatoslav with the defeat and death of the entire army!

Prince Svyatoslav and Emperor John Tzimisces at the negotiations. From a painting by the artist V.K. Lebedev.

Further events are well known from the history books. Returning to Russia, Svyatoslav in the next year, 972, was attacked by the Pechenegs on the Dnieper rapids and died along with his squad. Only part of the army under the command of the governor Sveneld, who chose a detour, managed to get to Kyiv. Russian chroniclers accused the "treacherous Greeks" of conspiring with the Pechenegs, but the modern historian and ethnographer Lev Gumilyov rightly points out that the Byzantines, if they really needed the life of Svyatoslav, could have destroyed him when he had not yet crossed the borders of the empire. But in Kyiv itself, it is quite possible that there were influential groups that did not want to see Svyatoslav on the throne: after all, the prince publicly stated that he did not need the “mother of Russian cities”! Or the Pechenegs themselves simply took advantage of the opportunity to attack - the exact answer will probably never be received.

Curious fact. The decisive battle near Dorostol took place on July 22 and was largely due to the attack of the Pechenegs on the capital of the Russian principalities - Kyiv. Exactly 970 years later, on July 22, 1941, another capital was attacked: on this day, Nazi aircraft made the first raid on Moscow.

air defense Moscow during a German air raid.

Defense of Dorostol- battles in April-July 971 between the Russian army and the army of the Byzantine Empire near the fortress Dorostol, which ended a series of campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich to Bulgaria and Byzantium. As a result of the battles, Prince Svyatoslav was forced to make peace with Byzantium and leave the Balkans.

background

Svyatoslav's lack of strength and the suddenness of the Byzantine attack led to the fact that he did not have time to take the necessary precautions. He did not occupy the Balkan passes, left the mouth of the Danube open, divided his army, but even in this way he could not allocate enough forces to cover Preslav. So the main forces of the Rus were in Dorostol, and the detachment under the command of Sfenkel was located in Preslav (the Bulgarian Tsar Boris II was also there).

Battle near Preslav

Side forces

Defense of Dorostol

First fight (April 23)

On April 23, the first battle took place, which began after an ambush attack by the Rus on a small advance detachment of the Byzantines. They destroyed this detachment, but they themselves died.

Russ expected the main forces of the Byzantines on the near approaches to Dorostol, " closing shields and spears like a wall"(see battle order" wall"). The battle order of the Byzantine army consisted of two lines: in the first line in the center stood the infantry, and on the flanks the horsemen at arms, which made up two wings; in the second line, continuously firing archers and slingers formed up. In a stubborn battle, the Rus repelled 12 Byzantine attacks. In the evening, Tsimikhsy, having gathered all his cavalry, threw it against the exhausted Rus, which forced them to take refuge behind the walls of Dorostol.

On April 24, the Byzantines erected a fortified camp near Dorostol, set up tents on a small hill, dug a deep ditch around and poured an earthen rampart, on which they stuck spears into the ground and hung shields on them.

Famine began in the city, the Bulgarians began to go over to the side of the Byzantines. Svyatoslav, realizing that if they all go over to the side of Tzimiskes, then his affairs will end badly, he was forced to start repressions - he executed about 300 in Dorostol " famous by birth and wealth Misyan', but he put the rest in prison.

Seeing that the situation was deteriorating, on July 19 Svyatoslav organized a large sortie in order to destroy the enemy's siege and battering machines. Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, when the Byzantines were not expecting an attack, a detachment of Rus attacked the enemy and burned all the siege structures, killing the head of the siege engines.

Third fight (July 20)

This success inspired Svyatoslav. On July 20, the Russians left the city and lined up for battle. The Byzantines lined up in a "thick phalanx". The Rus successfully repulsed the attacks of the Byzantines, but during one of them the Russian governor Ikmor was beheaded by Anemas, the bodyguard of Emperor John Tzimiskes, after which the squad " threw the shields behind and retreated towards the city. Among the bodies of dead soldiers left on the battlefield, the Byzantines found the bodies of women, probably Bulgarian residents of Dorostol.

At the military council (comment) assembled on July 21 by Svyatoslav, opinions were divided - part suggested breaking out of the city on the boats on a dark night, the other part advised starting peace negotiations. Then Svyatoslav delivered a speech quoted by Leo the Deacon:

“Glory will perish, the companion of Russian weapons, which easily defeated neighboring peoples and, without shedding blood, conquered entire countries, if we now shamefully yield to the Romans. And so, with the courage of our ancestors and with the thought that the Russian force has been invincible until now, let us fight courageously for our life. We do not have the custom of fleeing to the fatherland, but either to live as victors or, having accomplished famous deeds, to die with glory ”

After listening to their prince, the squad decided to fight.

Fourth fight (July 22)

On the morning of July 22, the Russians left Dorostol and Svyatoslav ordered the city walls to be locked so that no one would have the thought of retreating. The battle began with an attack by the Russians on the Byzantine positions. In a stubborn battle, by noon the Byzantines began to retreat under the pressure of the Rus. Then Tzimiskes brought into battle a fresh detachment of horsemen, the attack of which he personally led. This allowed the tired Byzantines to rest. They went on the attack, but were repulsed by the Russians.

Then Tzimiskes divided his army into two parts. One detachment, under the command of the patrician Roman and the clerk Peter, having entered the battle, began to retreat, luring the squad of the Rus to an open plain away from the city. At this time, the second detachment under the command of Varda Sklir attacked the Rus from the rear. The storm that began at that time carried clouds of sand into the eyes of the Rus. Fighting bravely, repulsing the constant attacks of the Byzantines, the Russians were able to break into Dorostol and hide behind its walls.

Losses

Leo the Deacon reports that the Rus had 15 thousand killed in this battle, the Byzantines took 20 thousand shields and many swords, while the Byzantines allegedly had only 350 people killed and “ many wounded". There are doubts that these data are correct.

The consequences of the battle

The next day, Svyatoslav invited Tzimisces to start negotiations. The Emperor readily accepted this offer. On the banks of the Danube, a meeting between Svyatoslav and Tzimiskes took place. Svyatoslav undertook not to fight with Byzantium, and Tzimiskes had to freely let the boats of the Rus pass and give two measures of bread to each soldier on the road. Leo the Deacon reports that there were 22,000 people who received the bread. After that, the army of Svyatoslav went to Russia. On the way to Kyiv, Prince Svyatoslav was killed by the Pechenegs.

Notes

Bloodless L. G. Atlas maps and schemes on Russian military history / Ed. N. M. Korobkov, G. P. Meshcheryakov, M. N. Tikhomirov . - M .: Military publishing house of the people's commissariat of the armed forces, 1946. - S. 2.
Levchenko M.V. Essays ... - S. 277 sl.
Sakharov A. N. Diplomacy Svyatoslav. - M.: International relationships, 1982. - S. 240.
“The Tale of Bygone Years” In year 6479 (971).
Sakharov A. N. Diplomacy Svyatoslav. - M.: International relations, 1982. - S. 240 .:

The further course of military operations is not known to the Russian chronicler. He is also ignorant of the passage of the Greeks through the Balkans, the capture of Preslav, the battles for Dorostol.
Marx K. and Engels F. Works, vol. XVI, part I. - S. 409.

AT old times, even at the dawn of the creation of our great state, then called "Rus", a war broke out between its inhabitants and Byzantium. The great Kyiv prince Svyatoslav went on an aggressive campaign to Bulgaria and Byzantium in 968-971.

Initially, Svyatoslav attacked the Bulgarian kingdom in 967 at the request, but he had to interrupt his campaign of conquest because of Kyiv besieged by the Pechenegs and the death of his mother, Princess Olga. In 969, Svyatoslav returned to Bulgaria again, subjugated the eastern part of the Bulgarian kingdom and, already in 970, moved into the possession of the Byzantine Empire, as he decided that he had few conquered lands. But the Greeks, defending their territories, give a strong rebuff. The battle of Dorostol was preceded by the battle of Pereslav, where part of our troops was utterly defeated. The survivors returned to Dorostol to Svyatoslav and his army.

The whole battle can be divided into 5 stages: 4 attacks and defense of the city. The first battle took place on April 23, a small detachment of the Rus from an ambush attacked the advance detachment of the Byzantines. Both of them were defeated. Our troops were waiting for the Greeks, their shields tightly closed and their spears raised. The Byzantines lined up in two lines: in the first, infantry marched in the center, cavalry on the flanks; in the second - there were archers, continuously spewing a thunderstorm of arrows. The battle was long and hard, at first without an obvious advantage in someone's direction. But in the end, the forces of the Rus dried up, and the Byzantines, with another blow of the cavalry on the flanks, forced our troops to withdraw into the city. The Greeks set up camp near the city, dug a large ditch and made an earthen rampart. On April 25, the Byzantine fleet also approached from the Danube, the enemy surrounded us from all sides. But on that day, the battle did not take place. But the next day, that is, April 26, Svyatoslav withdrew his troops into the field. Having again become dense rows, having closed their shields, the Russians withstood the onslaught and spent the whole night in the field. In the morning, the Byzantines sent a sabotage detachment to the rear of the Rus, afraid of being cut off from the main forces, Svyatoslav decided to take refuge behind the walls of the city again.

On the night of April 29, the Russians created a large ditch around the city so that the Greeks could not approach the walls with their siege mechanisms. On the same night, our fighters made the first major sortie for food. On the way back, they saw a detachment of Byzantines watering their horses. An instant decision was made: to disperse the enemy. The decision was implemented, but the Greeks did not forgive this trick, in retaliation they dug up all the roads and stepped up their patrols. Now the Russians could not get out anywhere. For three months, they were blocked in the city, and in the meantime the Greeks managed to approach the city, and with the help of wall and throwing machines destroy the walls. Considering that the famine had begun, the Bulgarian brothers, allied to us, began to go over to the side of the Byzantines. It was no longer possible to delay, on July 19 Svyatoslav organized another sortie, this time with the aim of destroying the siege detachments. The outing ended successfully.

On July 20, the third battle took place. Encouraged by the successes of the previous day, the Rus entered the battlefield, ready to attack. The Russ defended themselves very successfully, but after the loss of their governor, Ikmor, morale fell, and they again retreated behind the fortress walls. On July 21, at an urgent military meeting, the question was decided: to continue the battle or start peace negotiations? Svyatoslav, declaring that the strength of Russian weapons knows no concessions, inspired everyone to a new fight.

So, on the morning of July 22, having again entered the battlefield, Svyatoslav ordered the gates of the city to be locked. Either victory or death, no retreat! And the Russians pressed the Greeks, even connecting a fresh detachment of cavalry, led personally by the Byzantine emperor, to the battle. They managed not only to withstand the onslaught, but also to fight back. Then the Byzantines went to the trick, divided into two parts: one lured the Rus to the plain away from the city, and the second came from the rear. Nevertheless, bravely fighting back, our troops had to retreat behind the walls of the city again.

The next day, Svyatoslav offered to start negotiations. Undertaking to no longer fight with Byzantium, he demanded two measures of bread for each soldier and an unimpeded retreat to his lands. Emperor Tzimiskes fulfilled his part of the agreement, well, or almost fulfilled it, since on the way back Svyatoslav with a small retinue were killed by the Pechenegs. Many historians adhere to the version that it was the emperor of Byzantium who handed over Svyatoslav to the Pechenegs.

Thus ended not only the war with Byzantium, but also the reign of Svyatoslav in Russia.

The history of the war between Russia and Byzantium in 970-971 is, without exaggeration, legendary. The peak of this confrontation was the defense of the soldiers of Prince Svyatoslav in the Bulgarian fortress Dorostol. Every student knows about it. However, Dorostol deserves a separate story, especially since the surviving sources on his defense are far from being complementary in everything.

First of all, it is necessary to deal with the number of Svyatoslav's soldiers who came with him to Dorostol and defended it. How big was the army of Svyatoslav?

Information on this subject in the available sources varies. The Byzantine chronicler Leo the Deacon in his "History" pointed out that on the eve of the general battle near the walls of Dorostol, the Russian squad numbered up to 60,000 people. This colossal army by the standards of the Middle Ages, other Roman chroniclers, without hesitation, increased another five times. When John Skylitsa reported about 308,000 soldiers under the banners of Svyatoslav, this could be explained by a copyist's error in the manuscript. However, other medieval authors also wrote about the three hundred thousandth army of the Rus. Be that as it may, this figure is clearly exaggerated. The prince and his governors would not even be able to feed such a gigantic army in the poor steppes of the Black Sea region, not to mention its organization.

The assault on Preslav by Byzantine soldiers in 971. Miniature from the chronicle of the XI century

Russian sources - for example, the Ipatiev Chronicle - on the contrary, say that Svyatoslav defended Dorostol with a force of only 10,000 soldiers. This figure was supported by the classics of historiography, including S. M. Solovyov. Researchers of Byzantine history in the USSR adhered to the position of Leo the Deacon.

An end to these disputes was put by Professor G. G. Atanasov, who spent decades archaeological excavations in Silistra (Dorostol). The conclusion of the scientist is unequivocal - the data found in the written evidence of the era are exaggerated, every single one:

Around the middle of the 10th century, the fortress of Dristra occupied an area of 5 hectares or 50,000 m2. It is obvious that in such a territory it is impossible to provide accommodation for three months 7–8 thousand [cells] of soldiers, since each of them needs at least about 8–10 m2 to accommodate. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that massive buildings, a cathedral, residences were placed within the fortress, there was a need for a place to store food, weapons (stone battle balls that Russians threw at the Romans), animals and horses (chronists they write that Svyatoslav used cavalry during the battles)

Plan of the city of Silistra in the middle of the 19th century, showing the moat around the medieval citadel on the banks of the Danube, which was used during the entire Middle Ages. Published in scientific work Professor G. G. Atanasov

In addition, buildings were located on the territory of the fortress, including the cathedral church, which additionally occupied the area. The army of Svyatoslav definitely needed premises for provisions, weapons, at least improvised stables. According to Atanasov's calculations, each of the 30,000 Rus would have to huddle in an area of just over 1 square meter, moreover, for 90 days. And this is without taking into account the Bulgarian population of Dorostol. The researcher's conclusion is:

Based on reality, 7–8 thousand fighters is the critical maximum that could fit on the territory of the Dristra fortress. This fully corresponds to the statement of the ancient Russian Ipatiev Chronicle that Svyatoslav (in his own words) went on a second campaign against Bulgaria with 10,000 soldiers

The Russian army suffered losses in battles even on the outskirts of Dorostol. On April 23, the vanguard of the Byzantine army fell into an ambush, reconnaissance in battle turned into a mutual extermination of the detachments. The bulk of Tzimiskes' forces, which approached the fortress later, were lined up in two lines. Roman infantry with plate cavalry on the flanks attacked the positions of the Rus a dozen times, showered with clouds of arrows. At the end of the day, the imperial cavalry nevertheless squeezed out Svyatoslav beyond the fortress of Dorostol.

Miniature from a 14th-century Vatican manuscript. Above is the conquest of Bulgaria by Svyatoslav, below is the campaign of John Tzimisces against Dorostol

The next few days were marked by a series of battles near the fortress. John Tzimiskes led a fleet along the Danube to the settlement, because of which the Russians had to drag the boats out of the river in order to protect them from burning. In an open battle at Dorostol, Svyatoslav's army held firm. But the threatened rear forced the prince to retreat to the fortress. Her three-month siege began.

The efforts of the Rus to protect the walls of Dorostol from the destructive actions of Roman engineering machines bore fruit only in part. The Byzantines, in turn, cut off all communications around the fortress and posted reinforced guards on the roads. The squad of Svyatoslav was threatened with hunger, which rushed the Rus to new and new desperate sorties. Not long in coming and the threat inside the city. The Bulgarians inhabiting it began to run across to Tzimisces. The prince cruelly suppressed the sprouts of treason, executing a mass of citizens from among the nobility.

The siege was very painful for the defenders, but at the same time disadvantageous for the Romans. In Constantinople, the struggle for the throne continued, which Tzimisces, bogged down in the war, could simply lose. It is known that at the height of the siege, the emperor offered Svyatoslav to decide the outcome of the confrontation by single combat. It was quite in the spirit of the customs of the Middle Ages, one of the symbols of which was the ordeal - “God's judgment”. The patriarch of Russian historiography N. M. Karamzin reproduced on the pages of his “History of the Russian State” the proud answer of the prince: “I know better than my enemy what to do. If life is boring to him, then there are many ways to get rid of it: Tzimisces, let anyone choose!

Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich and Byzantine Emperor John Tzimisces. Artist V. P. Vereshchagin. print

However, the imperial siege structures were a strong bargaining chip for the latter. Realizing the threat of destruction of the Dorostoly fortifications, Svyatoslav on July 19 undertook a sortie from the fortress. Not expecting such a desperate move from the enemy, the Byzantines were stunned and ... They lost their wall-beating machines, devoured by fire.

The next day was marked by a major battle near the walls of Dorostol. Svyatoslav led the inspired soldiers beyond his walls, and the attacks of the Romans were again successfully repelled one after another. However, the scales were shaken by the death of one of the prince's associates named Ikmor. This episode is excellently described by Leo the Deacon, to match the Homeric epics:

Then Anemas, one of the bodyguards of the Sovereign, the son of the leader of the Cretans, seeing the brave giant Ikmor, the first husband and leader of the Scythian army after Svyatoslav, furiously striving with a detachment of selected warriors and beating many Romans, then, I say, Anemas, inflamed with spiritual courage, took out his the sword, hanging at the hip, made several jumps on the horse in different sides and, stabbing him, he launched himself at this giant, overtook and struck him in the neck - and cut off along with right hand head dropped to the ground. With this fall, a terrible cry rises from the Scythians, mixed with a cry, and the Romans quickly attack them. They could not withstand this pressure and, extremely upset by the disaster of their commander, threw their shields on their backs and began to retreat towards the city: ours, pursuing them, beat

Discouraged by what had happened, the Rus hurried to retreat to the fortress.

The same Byzantine author next describes the slaughter of captured enemies by the Slavs, performed at night on funeral pyres. Moreover, the deacon depicts the sacrifice infants drowned by the soldiers of Svyatoslav in the waters of the Danube. Apparently, these cruel rites really took place. The ruthless era of the Middle Ages does not need varnishing. Russ and Vikings under the banners of Kyiv were people of their time and, in addition, pagans. The works of the outstanding Russian historian B. A. Rybakov demonstrate that child sacrifices existed in Russia in the pre-Christian era.

Trizna of Svyatoslav's combatants after the battle near Dorostol in 971. Artist G. I. Semiradsky. 1884

However, the hecatomb would not make up for Svyatoslav's losses in manpower. Having convened a military council on July 21, the prince listened to proposals to break the siege with a fight, and recommendations to start negotiations with Tzimisces. His final decision was expressed in an inspiring speech addressed to his comrades-in-arms. A number of its formulations are known, but the modern researcher of military rhetoric S. E. Zverev refuses to trust the retelling by the author of The Tale of Bygone Years. “We have before us a typical case of an epic reflection of historical reality,” the historian sums up. Much more authentic in this case is the version of the same Leo the Deacon:

The glory that followed the army of the Ross, who easily defeated neighboring peoples and enslaved entire countries without bloodshed, has perished, if we now shamefully retreat before the Romans. So, let us be imbued with the courage [which our ancestors bequeathed] to us, remember that the power of the Ross has so far been invincible, and we will fiercely fight for our lives. It does not befit us to return to our homeland, fleeing; [we must] either win and stay alive, or die with glory, having accomplished feats [worthy of] valiant men!

In the morning next day the whole squad of Svyatoslav left Dorostol, the gates of which were closed - the soldiers had nowhere to retreat. A fierce attack pressed the Romans, but the introduction of fresh cavalry forces into battle allowed them to hold on. Tzimiskes resorted to military cunning- imitating the retreat of part of his troops, he sent a detachment of the commander Varda Sklir to the rear of the Rus. Along with this played out sandstorm, blinding the princely army. Fighting off the attacks of the Greeks, the soldiers of Svyatoslav were squeezed back into the fortress. The Byzantine army won, although the number of fallen Rus by Leo the Deacon in 15 thousand is clearly exaggerated here - it is enough to recall the maximum number of troops in Dorostol. Prince Svyatoslav was wounded, but defeated the Roman hero in a duel - Ikmor was avenged.

The culmination of the siege of Dorostol was also its denouement. The next day after the general battle, Svyatoslav invited Tzimisces to start negotiations. Their course, outcome and subsequent events will be no less impressive. Prince Svyatoslav will die in battle with the Pechenegs on the Dnieper, returning to Kyiv. John Tzimiskes, accused for centuries of organizing this murder, will outlive his rival by only four years. Svyatoslav's mother, Princess Olga, will be baptized, surpassing the Byzantine emperor in cunning. Great events are coming. But the defense of Dorostol, this outstanding page military history Middle Ages, they will not obscure.

Greeks storm Preslav. Of the siege weapons, a stone thrower is shown. Miniature from the chronicle of John Skylitzes.

Defense of Dorostol - battles in April-July 971 between the Russian army and the army of the Byzantine Empire near the fortress of Dorostol, which ended a series of campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich to Bulgaria and Byzantium. As a result of the battles, Prince Svyatoslav was forced to make peace with Byzantium and leave the Balkans.

background

As a result of the hostilities in 970, having received tribute and concluded a peace treaty with Byzantium (according to Sakharov, the peace treaty and the tribute paid were only a diversionary maneuver of the Byzantines; in medieval sources only the peace treaty of 971 is mentioned, which put an end to the whole war) Svyatoslav returned to Pereyaslavets . The reason for this was the heavy losses among the troops and the small number of the remaining combat-ready squad:

“No matter how some cunning kills both my squad and me” ... since many died in battle ... “I’ll go to Russia, bring more squads ... If we don’t make peace with the tsar and the tsar finds out that there are few of us, then they will come and they will besiege us in the city. And the Russian land is far away, and the Pechenegs are hostile to us, and who will help us? Let us make peace with the tsar: after all, they have already pledged to pay tribute to us, that will be enough for us. If they stop paying tribute to us, then again from Russia, having gathered a lot of soldiers, we will go to Tsargrad.

The further course of military operations is unknown to the Russian chronicler. According to one version, Svyatoslav sent to Russia for replenishment for his army. According to some authors, a small replenishment arrived from Kyiv to Svyatoslav, since he himself did not leave for a new squad and continued to make small raids on the Byzantines in Thrace for several months.

In November 970, in Byzantium, the rebellion of Vardas Foki the Younger was suppressed, and government troops under the command of Vardas Skleros returned to Macedonia and Thrace, where they settled in winter quarters.

In April 971, Emperor John Tzimiskes personally led a campaign in Bulgaria against Svyatoslav, who did not take defensive measures. April 10th ground army freely overcame the mountain passes and suddenly appeared at Preslav - the capital of the Bulgarians - Svyatoslav's allies. At the same time, 300 ships of the Byzantine fleet, armed with Greek fire, headed for the mouth of the Danube to cut off the Russians' retreat and prevent the approach of reinforcements from the left bank of the river.

Battle near Preslav

At dawn on April 13, the Byzantine army, lining up in "dense rows", began to approach Preslav. The Russians managed to line up in battle formation, hiding behind large shields to the heels, and themselves rushed to the Greeks. The battle was stubborn without a clear advantage of the parties, until the emperor ordered the guards of the "immortals" to attack the left flank of the Rus. Unable to withstand the pressure of the armored cavalry, the Rus retreated to the fortress. The next day, siege weapons approached the Greeks, and they attacked Preslav. On April 14, the Byzantines broke into the city and captured the Bulgarian Tsar Boris, while the Rus retreated to the royal palace with a fence. The Greeks set fire to it, smoking out the Russ who had settled there. They were forced to go out into the open, where the Greeks surrounded them and, in a stubborn battle, destroyed almost all of them. However, a small part of the troops under the command of governor Sfenkel managed to escape to Dorostol where Svyatoslav was with the main forces.

After the celebration of Easter on April 17, John Tzimisces moved to Dorostol, taking a number of Bulgarian cities along the way, "which were deposited from the Rus and stuck to the Romans." On April 23, the Byzantine army approached Dorostol, where the main forces of Svyatoslav with the rook fleet were located.

spartan hoplite

Side forces

Leo the Deacon claims that when crossing the Balkans, Tzimisces had 15,000 hoplites and 13,000 horsemen, in addition, a select detachment of "immortals" and a large convoy with other troops, while Svyatoslav had 60,000 people on a campaign in Bulgaria. In his opinion, under Dorostol, the Rus still had 60 thousand soldiers.

According to Skylitsa, Tzimiskes captured the passes with a detachment of 5,000 infantry and 4,000 horsemen, and "the rest of the multitude of warriors" followed him.

According to N. Shefov, under Dorostol, Byzantine troops amounted to 40-45 thousand people, including 15 thousand cavalry, and Svyatoslav's troops - about 20 thousand people.

The Hungarian and Pecheneg allies, apparently, had left Svyatoslav by this time and did not have time to come to his aid. This confirms the message of Skylitsa that Svyatoslav in Dorostol did not hope for “any help”, that “their own country was very far away, and the neighboring barbarian peoples, fearing the Romans, did not agree to help them” and the tale of bygone years: “And Ruska the land is far away, and the Pechenesi are with us as warriors, and who can help us?

Defense of Dorostol

On April 23, the first battle took place, which began after an ambush attack by the Rus on a small advance detachment of the Byzantines. They destroyed this detachment, but they themselves died.

The Ruses were expecting the main forces of the Byzantines on the near approaches to Dorostol, "having closed their shields and spears, like a wall." The battle order of the Byzantine army consisted of two lines: in the first line in the center stood the infantry, and on the flanks the horsemen at arms, which made up two wings; in the second line, continuously firing archers and slingers formed up. In a stubborn battle, the Rus repelled 12 Byzantine attacks. In the evening, Tsimikhsy, having gathered all his cavalry, threw it against the exhausted Rus, which forced them to take refuge behind the walls of Dorostol.

On April 25 (according to other sources, April 28), the Byzantine fleet approached Dorostol from the Danube and blocked the city. Svyatoslav ordered to pull his boats ashore so that the enemy would not burn them. On the same day, Tzimiskes approached the city, but the Russians did not go out into the field, but only from the walls and from the towers threw stones and arrows at the enemy. Soon the Byzantines returned to the camp. By evening, Svyatoslav's squad on horseback set out from the city, but Tzimiskes did not dare to attack Svyatoslav's squad, and she returned to Dorostol.

On April 26, the second battle took place near Dorostol. The army of Svyatoslav went out into the field and lined up on foot in their chain mail armor and helmets, closing long shields, up to the very legs, and putting up spears. The Byzantines attacked the Rus, after which a stubborn battle ensued, in which the governor Sfenkel died. According to the Byzantine historian Kedrin, the Rus retained the battlefield and remained there all night from 26 to 27 April. In the morning the battle resumed. By noon, Tzimiskes sent a detachment to the rear of the Russians. Fearing to be cut off from the city, Svyatoslav's squad retreated behind the fortress walls.

Siege of Dorostol

On the night of April 29, the Rus dug a deep ditch around Dorostol so that the besiegers could not come close to the fortress wall and set up siege engines.

On the same night, taking advantage of the darkness, the Russians on the boats carried out the first big sortie for food. Returning back with prey, they noticed a detachment of Byzantines on the banks of the Danube, watering their horses in the Danube and collecting firewood on the banks. The Rus attacked the Byzantines and dispersed them.

On the same day, the Byzantines dug up all the roads to the city with deep ditches and strengthened their patrols. Over the next three months, the Rus did not leave the city, and the Byzantines, with the help of battering and throwing guns, destroyed the fortress walls and killed its defenders.

Famine began in the city, the Bulgarians began to go over to the side of the Byzantines. Svyatoslav, realizing that if they all go over to the side of Tzimiskes, then his affairs will end badly, he was forced to start repressions - he executed about 300 “Misyans famous for their birth and wealth” in Dorostol, while he imprisoned the rest.

John Tzimiskes was not interested in a long siege, since in his absence, Constantinople had already happened unsuccessful attempt coup. To speed things up, he, according to Skylitsa, suggested that Svyatoslav decide the war by a duel between them:

Seeing that the situation was deteriorating, on July 19 Svyatoslav organized a large sortie in order to destroy the enemy's siege and ramming machines. Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, when the Byzantines were not expecting an attack, a detachment of Rus attacked the enemy and burned all the siege structures, killing the head of the siege engines.

B. A. Chorikov. Military council of Svyatoslav

This success inspired Svyatoslav. On July 20, the Russians left the city and lined up for battle. The Byzantines lined up in a "thick phalanx". The Rus successfully repulsed the attacks of the Byzantines, but during one of them the Russian governor Ikmor was beheaded by Anemas, the bodyguard of Emperor John Tzimisces, after which the squad “thrown their shields behind their backs” and retreated to the city. Among the bodies of dead soldiers left on the battlefield, the Byzantines found the bodies of women, probably Bulgarian residents of Dorostol.

“Glory will perish, the companion of Russian weapons, which easily defeated neighboring peoples and, without shedding blood, conquered entire countries, if we now shamefully yield to the Romans. And so, with the courage of our ancestors and with the thought that the Russian force has been invincible until now, let us fight courageously for our life. We do not have the custom of fleeing to the fatherland, but either to live as victors or, having accomplished famous deeds, to die with glory.

After listening to their prince, the squad decided to fight.

Losses

Leo the Deacon reports that the Rus had 15 thousand killed in this battle, the Byzantines took 20 thousand shields and many swords, while the Byzantines allegedly had only 350 people killed and "many wounded." There are doubts that these data are correct.

The consequences of the battle