Battle of the Ghalenna River
| Battle of the Ghalenna River | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Makedonian-Hannashka Wars | |||||||
 Makedonian soldiers among the dead. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Hannashka Empire |
 Makedonian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Kamadyu the Magnificent |
Rhoekos | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 250,000-300,000 (Thespis) | 275,000 (Thespis) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 150,000 (Thespis) | 120,000 (Thespis) | ||||||
The Battle of the Ghalenna River was fought between the Makedonian Empire and the Hannashka Empire from 16-18 June 268 during the Makedonian-Hannashka Wars. A Makedonian army under General Rhoekos attempted to cross the Galen River and defeat a Hannashka Army led by Kamadyu the Magnificent. After an exceptionally bloody two days of fighting, the Hannashka ceded the river to the Makedonians, though the Makedonians would be forced to withdraw back across the Galen shortly afterwards.
Background
The Makedonian-Hannashka Wars had first erupted in 151 CE and was marked by border skirmishes and clashes until the Third Century which saw Makedonian gains into regions typically loyal to the Hannashka, including the region of Khaltia. By 250 CE Makedonian influence had spread into present-day Ganjarejan, with raids as far south as Jalandhar. Fears that the Hannashka would be forced to surrender to Makedon were alleviated with the ascension of Kamadyu to the throne in 257, who immediately began planning for a reconquest of Khaltia. By 265 Kamadyu had pushed the Makedonians out of Ganjarejan and had launched incursions into Mansuriyyah, but encountered heavy resistance by the Makedonian armies led by Rhoekos of Sena. In the spring of 268 Rhoekos launched an offensive to drive the Hannashka out of present-day Mavarnahar, leading Kamadyu to muster her forces east of the Galen River to check the Makedonian advance. The two sides clashed in a number of skirmishes prior to the meeting of the full extent of their armies on 16 June.
Forces involved
Both armies reflected the diverse range of their respective empires and the wide array of peoples and tribes under their domain. The Hannashka fielded an army heavily based on cavalry of all types with supporting infantry, archers, and war elephants. This included Hannashka, Erani, and Khaltian heavy and light cavalry, horse archers, and cataphracts, Tennaiite and Erani longbows, Khaltian infantry both light and heavy, Kohrka infnatry, Tennaiite mercenaries, and Nalayan levies. The Makedonian army was centered around its pike wielding infantry arrayed in a phalanx formation, the most well drilled infantry of their day. Supporting the phalanx were heavy infantry from Ruvelka on each flank, with additional Hayren infantry and light infantry from the Mansuri satrapies of Qatna, Kanesh, and Irviym. Makedonian cavalry consisted of heavy lancers from Galania, and horse archers from Arkoenn. Melee cavalry from the Khiyzan were also employed, as well as Bosrei mercenaries. Scitarian levies also served as skirmishers and light infantry with Chrysian archers also employed. Some artillery pieces like catapults, ballisteas, and onagers produced by Han siege engineers captured from Serkios were also featured in the Makedonian army.
As was common, the Hannashka held superiority in cavalry while the Makedonians held greater infantry. The primary sources for the troops and the size of the armies is Thespis, a Syaran historian who accompanied Rhoekos on his campaigns. Thespis's reliability as a historian is mixed; as a former officer in the Makedonian army Thespis is considered a reliable source when it comes to the reporting of troop types, their roles, and the maneuvers taken during battle, but he is also known to have frequently exaggerated the numbers and casualties involved in battle. Most historians reject his proposed numbers for the Makedonians and Hannashka at Ghalenna, which he put at 275,000 and 300,000 respectively. Nevertheless modern historians conclude both sizes fielded a considerably large amount of troops, though it is impossible to determine an exact number.
Battle
The Ghalenna river flows in a south-west direction across Khaltia, ending in Galighan. The site of the battle was located near the town of Galen, where the Ghalenna could be crossed via a stone bridge. A second smaller wooden bridge existed further downstream, but the Hannashka burned it down prior to the arrival of the Makedonians. Kamadyu originally had wanted to cross the river and meet the Makedonians across the river to keep control of Galen, but the arrival of the Makedonians led Kamadyu to instead deploy her forces to guard the eastern banks of the river.
First day
The two armies deployed alongside the river and waited for the other to make a move, resulting in a stalemate that lasted for several hours. According to Thespis, first blood was drawn by the Hannashka by Tennaiite and Erani archers who peppered the Makedonian lines with arrow fire. The Makedonians responded with their catapults and onagers in a missile exchange that lasted until late afternoon. Around 3 p.m, Kamadyu ordered her troops closest to the stone bridge to fall back, ostensibly in an attempt to bait the Makedonians into attempting to seize the bridge before unleashing her archers and missiles against them while they were attempting to cross.
Rhoekos recognized the bait but opted to attempt a diversion by ordering his Hayren infantry to seize the bridge while he took the Makedonian pikemen, Ruvelkan heavy infantry, and Galanian heavy cavalry to swing upstream and attempt to ford the river elsewhere to cross. The Hayren and Bosrei mercenaries began crossing the bridge and as predicted came under murderous arrow fire from the Hannashka, resulting in many casualties. While this was underway Rhoekos led his cavalry upstream and came across a much easier portion of the river to cross, fording it with his Galanian lancers and his Makedonian infantry close behind.
Kamadyu learned of this crossing and immediately took her Hannashka, Erani, and Khaltian heavy cavalry north to check the Makedonian advance, arriving just shortly after the Makedonian infantry had crossed. The two cavalry groups clashed on the eastern banks in a ferocious melee; according to Thespis this engagement resulted in Rhoekos and Kamadyu engaging in one-on-one combat, and the cavalry were so dominant that the Makedonian pikemen scarcely took part in the fighting.
Overwhelmed by the Hannashka cavalry, Rhoekos and the Galanians were forced to retreat in disarray back across the river. Kamadyu wanted to pursue and exploit the tactical victory, but her Erani cavalry proved too eager and changed the Makedonians. Despite their awkward position (many of the troops still standing knee deep in the flowing water of the river), the Makedonians successfully formed an impromptu phalanx that decimated the charge of the Erani cavalry, killing many of them. The Ruvelkan infantry then joined the fray, throwing the remainder of the Erani back across the eastern bank. Kamadyu ordered her cavalry to disengage and reinforced her position with her Khaltian and Tenaiite infantry, and the Makedonians decided not to press the crossing and retreated back across the river.
At the bridge itself the Hannaskha's Kohrka and Nayalan levies successfully prevented the Bosrei and Hayren from crossing the bridge, and under continued missile fire from the Hannashka archers the Makedonian effort to cross came to nothing. Both sides disengaged from battle before nightfall, bringing an end to the first day of fighting.
Second Day
With the norther ford identified, Rhoekos attempted to deceive Kamadyu by swinging much of his cavalry south in attempt to lead Kamadyu to follow suite. In the dawn's early light Rhoekos dispatched much of his Mansuri cavalry and infantry further south which Kamaduya followed with her own Hannashka cavalry, while Rhoekos in turn maneuvered his Makedonian and Hayren infantry across the bridge itself while the Hannashka was distracted. The Makedonian push across the bridge succeeded in reaching the eastern bank and began to spread outward to secure the bridgehead. Within a few hours the Makedonians had pressed most of their phalanx across the bridge and had take up formation while the Hayren and Bosrei infantry began filtering across, all the while under fire from Tennaiite and Erani foot archers.
Realizing the deception, Kamadyu wheeled her cavalry around to return to the stone bridge, which was now under the control of the Makedonians completely. Having repulsed the Khaltian and Kohrka infantry the Makedonians fanned out and attempted to secure their point of control, forcing Kamadyu to draw in her reserves of Tennaiite mercenaries and Nayalan leives to shore up the line and prevent the Makednians from routing the entire army. Despite repeated counter-attacks and hails of arrow fire, the Hannashka were unable to dislodge the Makedonian infantry from their bridgehead, and fears began to grow that the Hannashka would have to withdraw or resort to costly assaults and charges to clear out the Makedonians which would likely decimate their numbers.
Rather than withdraw or attack the center, Kamadyu instead reorganized her cavalry and rode upstream, towards the ford in the river where her troops could cross and swing around behind the Makedonians. As the Hannashka cavalry rode north, Rhoekos came to realize Kamadyu's plan but lacked an immediate reserve capable of blocking the crossing of the ford. Rhoekos instead called for the return of the Mansuri cavalry and infantry he had sent south to the center, intent on fighting the Hannashka on the western banks of the river, north of the stone bridge.
As expected, Kamadyu was able to cross with her cavalry without facing any resistance and was soon on the left flank of the Makedonian army, facing a hastily assembling mixed force of Makedonian cavalry and light infantry. According to Thespis the Kamadyu had brought 40,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry with her, against 30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. These numbers are likely inflated, but nevertheless contained much of both armies equestrian troops.
The ensuing cavalry clash was exceptionally bloody as described by Thespis, who states that by the end of the fighting entire mountains of horse corpses stood as a testament to the bloodshed. The engagement was a pyrrhic victory for the Makedonians; Kamadyu withdrew back across the north ford, but most of the Makedonian cavalry had been killed, including many of the Mansuri levies brought by Rhoekos. The Makedonians remained in control of the bridge, but Kamadyu had managed to withdraw back across the north ford and her forces remained in the field. The bloodshed on the second day was ultimately only a prelude to the coming slaughter.
Third Day
With much of his cavalry gone and reliant largely on his remaining Arkoennite and Khizyan to suffice, Rhoekos elected to pursue a central push against the lines of the Hannashka, utilizing the bridgehead established over the Ghalenna rather than attempting another maneuver around the north ford. This ultimately involved dispatching most of the Makedonian infantry, including Ruvelkan, Bosrei, and Hayren heavy infantry, to support the Makedonian pike phalanx as it attempted to repulse the Hannashka from the eastern banks entirely and drive them from the field. The plan was inherently risky as without much of their cavalry, who had been decimated in the previous two days of fighting, the Makedonians would struggle to advance far without proper protection of their flanks. However, the Hannashka would also be forced to fight the Makedonians in a restricted space, limiting the effectiveness of their cavalry and forcing Kamadyu to rely on her infantry to repulse the Makedonians.
The Makedonians began their assault in the morning, reinforcing their position across the Ghalenna with Hayren, Ruvelka, and Bosrei infantry on the flanks of the Makedonian phalanx. Kamadyu deployed her Hannashka and Khaltian infantry opposite with her remaining cavalry on the flanks, anticipating the Makedonian push and hoping to exploit the flanks of the formation as it developed. The Makedonian push met the Hannashka infantry in the center and began pushing them back, prompting Kamadyu to take command of her wings of cavalry and charge the flanks of the Makedonian lines. The ensuing melee proved exceptionally blood for both sides; Thespis records that the Makedonians succeeded initially in pushing back the Hannashka center, but the flanks of the phalanx buckled under the weight of the Hannashka cavalry.
Facing the risk of being outflanked, the Makedonians halted their push and attempted to re-assert a continuous line in spite of frequent and fierce attacks by Hannashka cavalry. By mid-day the battlefield was strewn with the fallen, and despite attempts to break the deadlock neither side was able to make much progress; the Makedonians could not advance without fear of being outflanked, while the Hannashka could not defeat the phalanx without outflanking the formation, which proved impossible with the narrow constraints of the terrain on the eastern bank. After several hours of fighting, the slaughter had become so great that Kamadyu ordered her forces to disengage and withdraw from the battle, handing the Makedonians the field.
Aftermath and Impact
The two armies had disengaged by the late afternoon. In the evening an emissary from the Hannashka camp approached the Makedonians and requested a meeting between Rhoekos and Kamadyu. According to Thespis, the two leaders met somewhere between the north ford and the stone bridge. This location was necessary apparently owing to the stench of corpses from the days of fighting. The water of the Ghalenna was riddled with blood, preventing the Makedonians from quenching their thirst from its waters. Surrounded by fields of corpses, Kamadyu requested a ceasefire and time to recover the fallen to ensure a proper burial. She expressly stated her desire to recover all the bodies of those who had fought within the Hannashka ranks, including her mercenaries and levies. Rhoekos agreed, and for the next three days both armies recovered the bodies of their fallen comrades.
The scale of the carnage was not lost on the Makedonians, who would comment on the battle Alethos myrioi nekrós, "truly countless bodies". Though the Makedonians had won the field, their victory proved short lived. With his cavalry depleted, Rhoekos could not advance further east and risk another confrontation. Unable to recruit from the already heavily taxed Khaltian populace, Rhoekos was ultimately forced to withdraw back across the Ghalenna and return to Makedonian lands in western Khaltia.