| September 15 |  |
Editor says, what if Michael Bourtzes had won the Battle of the Orontes? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the September 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 994, on this day the Byzantines and their Hamdanid allies relieved the city of Apamea which had been laid under siege by forces of the Fatimid vizier of Damascus.
Relief of ApameaMichael Bourtzes the doux of Antioch had come forth to the aid of the Hamdanid dynasty, the masters of Aleppo. Because the continued existence of this Byzantine vassal state was threatened by the Fatimid vizier of Damascus, the formidable Turkish general Manjutakin.
The clash of arms occurred across two fords on the Orontes. Having anticipated that Manjutakin would prey upon his weaker allies, he concealed the prescence of significant elements of the main Byzantine Army inside the Hamdanid Forces. This defensive mechanism maintained the shape of Bourtzes forces, and the eventual result was a resounding triumph for the Byzantines and their allies.
Victory marked a significant change of fortunes in the long-running war in Syria, a strategic area for the Byzantines due to their food dependency on Egyptian Granaries.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Orontes, Bourtzes, Manjutakin, Fatimid, Hamdanid. Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurpose content from Wikipedia which reports ~ Manjutakin sent his forces to attack the Byzantines' Hamdanid allies across one ford while pinning the main Byzantine force down on the other. His men succeeded in breaking through the Hamdanids, turned round and attacked the Byzantine force in the rear. The Byzantine army panicked and fled, losing some 5,000 men in the process. This [Byzantine] defeat led to the direct intervention of Byzantine emperor Basil II, and Bourtzes' dismissal from his post and his replacement by Damian Dalassenos.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
