Notices by ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)
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ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Sunday, 17-Nov-2024 15:49:00 JST 
ValeOfShadows
September 7th, 1812, Borodino, Russia.
On June 24th 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte crossed the Niemen River and invaded Russia with a 500k strong multi-national army one of the largest ever assembled in Europe to that point. Initially the Imperial Russian Army did not fight Napoleon, but relied on a "scorched earth" strategy, where they destroyed food and supplies and withdrew further into Russia. This aggravated Napoleon as he had hoped to defeat the Russian Army in a quick and decisive battle. On August 16th Napoleon conquered the city of Smolensk and was faced with a predicament set up winter quarters at Smolensk and wait till spring or continue on to Moscow and risk fighting during the winter months. Napoleon's ambition got the better of him and he decided to advance on Moscow. Czar Alexander I of Russia had replaced Prince Mikhail Barclay with Prince Mikhail Kutuzov as Commander of the Russian Army after Smolensk. Kutuzov planned to fight Napoleon in a pitched battle as the Russian Army's constant retreating seemed to be demoralizing the Russian people. Napoleon would get his battle after all.
On September 5th both armies met close to a Russian village known as Borodino. Napoleon's La Grande Armée(The Great Army) had around 140k men and was multi-ethnic consisting of French, German, Polish and Italian soldiers. Opposing him was General Kutuzov's Russian Army of around 160k men. Napoleon began the battle when French and Polish troops advanced on the village of Shevardino and captured the Russian gun batteries located there. The next day both armies spent the day preparing for the fighting on September 7th. On the morning of September 7th Russian Orthodox priests brought out the icon of Our Lady of Smolensk as a means of bolstering the moral of the Russian soldiers. Napoleon began the battle with an artillery barrage, followed by the IV Corps advancing on Borodino village and capturing it. IV Corps then advanced on to a Russian redoubt, but were driven back to Borodino. Napoleons center, then right flank advanced on Russian positions. The Polish on the right flank captured the village of Utitsa, But as the center forces advanced on the Russian redoubt(nicknamed "The Arrow" by the French) outside of the village of Semenovskaya, they ran into heavy resistance. Napoleon's IV Corps on the left flank attempted once again to break through the Russian redoubt, but were driven back again. Napoleon's center managed to finally breakthrough the center after Russian General Pyotr Bagration commanding the Russian center was badly wounded in the fighting and had to be dragged off of the field. The center pressed on and captured Semenovskaya.
Russian Cossacks attacked the French and Italian troops in Borodino hoping to make a breakthrough there, but were eventually driven back. Napoleon sent up his reserves to join the IV Corps on the left flank and this time managed to breakthrough the Russian redoubt. By the end of the day both armies were exhausted and had suffered heavy losses. The Russians lost 50k men, Napoleon's army lost 35k men. The next day Kutuzov ordered a retreat from Borodino and abandoned Moscow. Napoleons victory at Borodino became a pyrrhic victory as after the battle he advanced on Moscow and captured the city but several days later the Russians set it on fire forcing Napoleon to retreat from Russian in what became known as the infamous and deadly Winter Retreat. -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Sunday, 03-Nov-2024 21:48:53 JST
ValeOfShadows
August 12th, 955 Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany
In early 955 the nomadic Magyar(maj-yar) people led by a man named Bulcsú invaded the Holy Roman Empire hoping to raid the empire, taking advantage of a weakened state from a five year long civil war. By August 10th around 12k Magyars reached the fortified city of Augsburg and besieged it. The Magyars managed to breach the gate and get into the city but they were driven back by the German defenders. At this point King Otto I later Otto the Great was aware of the Magyar invasion and had assembled an army of around 9k men at the city of Ulm and set out from there. Magyar scouts had spotted Otto's army, so the bulk of the Magyars left Augsburg and headed out to meet the Germans. The Magyars sent a small contingent of horsemen to attack the rear of Otto's column and the Magyars managed to capture the supply wagons. Otto sent Conrad the Red Duke of Lorraine to recapture the supply wagons(and as a means for Conrad to redeem his honor, as Conrad fought against Otto in the civil war). The Magyars were distracted by looting the wagons, so Conrad's group quickly overwhelmed them and recaptured the wagons.
Some time later the Magyars and Germans met in a area known as the Plain of Lechfeld and both sides assembled for battle. Otto made the first move and attacked the Magyars, the Magyars held back hoping to lure the Germans into the Magyars' half circle-shaped formation, to surround them. But Otto had a plan to deal with this, he sent his infantry forward to meet the Magyar infantry, but then ordered the cavalry on the flanks to feign a retreat. The Magyar horse-archers began chasing the German cavalry until they broke their half-circle formation. As soon as Otto noticed that the Magyars were out of formation he ordered his cavalry to turn around and a charge the Magyars. The light Magyar cavalry was unable to withstand the shock from the charge as well as the more heavily armed and armored German cavalry easily defeated them in melee combat. Unable to retreat due to the tightly-packed formations and the narrow length of the battlefield, the Magyar cavalry was devastated by the Germans. The Magyar center eventually broke and fled and several Magyar chiefs were captured. The inhabitants of Augsburg were worried when they saw the Magyars returning, but then they saw Otto's army and were relived. After the Battle of Lechfeld, Otto was determined to put an end to the Magyar raids so he hunted down and killed any remaining Magyar raider in his territory. The remaining Magyars gave up their nomadic ways and eventually would form the Kingdom of Hungary. -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Thursday, 24-Oct-2024 16:09:42 JST
ValeOfShadows
We wuz Aryan saaar. -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 17:38:58 JST
ValeOfShadows
You've heard of niggers waz Egyptians, now get ready for spics waz Romans. -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Thursday, 12-Sep-2024 22:28:30 JST
ValeOfShadows
Today is the anniversary of when King Jan(John) Sobieski of Poland broke the two month long second Siege of Vienna by leading one of the largest cavalry charges in history with over 30k Polish and German horsemen with Sobieski and 3k Winged Hussars leading the charge(and Sobieski doing this while being overweight and almost sixty years old). Sobieski's charge broke the moral of the Ottomans and forced them to flee the battle. The Battle of Vienna became one of Europe's great victories over the Ottomans. After the Battle of Vienna the Ottoman military power rapidly declined in the region and they lost most of their territory in the Balkans to emerging European powers. Also random facts the jews were thrown out of Vienna in 1670 and from Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1650(which prevented the Gates of Vienna from being opened to the Turks).
gab.com/ValeOfShadows/posts/110451158130304750 -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jul-2024 00:18:09 JST
ValeOfShadows
#WhiteHistoryMonth
Today marks the anniversary of the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the year 1212. The battle marked a turning point in the Spanish Reconquista in which the Iberian kingdoms gained a permanent advantage against the Moors. The battle was also the first instance of the kingdoms of Castile, Aragorn, and Navarre uniting against the Moors.
RT: https://poa.st/objects/0b88a916-548c-4d1a-aea0-681c788b6bb4 -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 16-Jul-2024 22:21:52 JST
ValeOfShadows
July 16th 1212 AD Santa Elena, Spain.
In the 700's the Umayyad caliphate defeated the Visigoth kingdom and conquered almost all of Iberia with the exception of the Kingdom of Asturias. In 718 the Asturians defeated the Umayyads at the Battle of Covadonga, thus beginning a 700 year long Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula. In 1195 Alfonso VIII of the Kingdom of Castile was defeated by the Almohads, which allowed them to take many cities belonging to the Castilians. Several years later in 1211 A large Moorish army entered Iberia and conquered territory belonging to the Christian kingdoms. The Moors became a significant threat to Europe with their victories that Pope Innocent III called a Crusade on the Moorish kingdoms. In the spring of 1212 the Crusader army arrived at Toledo and set out from there. After wining small victories at Moorish castles on the way to their target, the Crusader army of 50k reached the Sierra Morena mountains.
Unsure what to do to get through the mountains, the army camped out until a local shepherd named Martín Alhaja approached King Alfonso(who was in charge of the coalition Crusader army) and offered to guide the army through the mountains. Alfonso granted Martín the hereditary title of Cabeza de Vaca for guiding the army through the mountains. The Crusaders and Moors met on a plain known as Las Navas de Tolosa. The Crusaders had 50k men and the Moors had 70k, but only around half of the Moorish troops had been readied for battle. The Crusaders deployed their forces at the bottom of a hill, with the Moors deploying at the top, with Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir having a fortified camp built at the back of his battle line.
The Moors made the first move and Moorish cavalry charged the Crusader lines and initially pushed the Crusaders back somewhat, but were stopped when Crusader knights counter-charged and pushed the Moors back. The Crusader center then attacked the Moorish center and initially had success, but when the Moorish reserves joined the battle the Crusader center was pushed back significantly. King Alfonso was afraid that his line was going to collapse so he joined the battle with his personal retinue of knights to try and turn things around. While the fighting was going on King Sancho VII of Navarre led his retinue of knights between the left and center battle lines and noticed that the Moorish camp was not well guarded. Sancho's knights charged the camp and quickly overwhelmed the guards. The shock of the charge caused Muhammad al-Nasir to panic and flee the battle and after seeing the the caliph's battle standard going away from the battle, the rest of the Moorish army broke and routed. The Crusaders then chased the Moors and killed or captured the majority of them. The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, marked a turning point in the Reconquista, in which the Moors did not attempt to invade the Christian Kingdoms again and gradually lost territory to them, until their final defeat in 1492. -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Wednesday, 10-Jul-2024 20:13:43 JST
ValeOfShadows
#WhiteManWednesday
Otto I or Otto the Great was born on November 23rd 912 to Henry the Fowler, Duke of Saxony, and his wife Matilda in Wallhausen, East Francia(Modern-day Germany). Otto was one of four children. Not much is known about his early life until the year 929. In the year 929 Otto was serving as a military commander defending the German Kingdom's borders against raids by Slavic tribes from the east. In 930 Otto's father Henry sent Otto to England to have an arranged marriage for Otto with an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman named Eadgyth to strengthen alliances with the Anglo-Saxons. On July 2nd 936 Henry passed away and on August 7th Otto was crowned King of the Germans. In 937 Eberhard the Duke of Saxony revolted against Otto's rule and Otto was forced to invade his province and by 938 put down the rebellion. Another rebellion occurred in 938 which Otto quickly put down. By 940 Otto had managed to fully stabilize his kingdom.
Over the next ten years from 941 on Otto began consolidating his power and reforming the government. In 951 political turmoil broke out in Northern Italy causing Otto's son Liudolf to invade Lombardy to take advantage of it. Liudolf's army did not preform well and eventually Otto raised an army to rescue his son's army from disasters. By September 23rd Otto's army subdued all of Northern Italy and Otto now possessed most of Charlemagne's territory. Otto then made Berengar II who was King of Italy, his vassal. On Christmas of 951 Otto's son Liudolf began a revolt against his father over the Italian campaign. Otto managed to put down the rebellion in 954. In late 954 the Magyars(Hungarians) sensing the German Kingdom's weakness from the civil war invaded and began sacking German cities. On August 12th 955 Otto and the German Army defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld and drove the Magyars out of German lands. While Otto was fighting the Magyars, the Slavs invaded the Northern German lands. Otto then defeated the Slavs at the Battle of Recknitz on October 16th of 955 and drove them out. The victories against the Magyars and Slavs helped stabilize Otto's kingdom as well.
In 957 Berengar II rebelled against Otto and in response Otto launched a military expedition into Northern Italy. In 960 Berengar's army attacked the Papal States and Pope John XII asked Otto for aid against Berengar. By 961 Otto had conquered Northern Italy and this time incorporated it into his kingdom. On January 31st 962 Otto traveled to Rome and was given a ceremony and crowned King of the Romans or Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII, transforming the German Kingdom back into the Holy Roman Empire created by Charlemagne. Latter in the 960's Otto brought most of the duchies of Central Italy under his sphere of influence, however this ended up angering the Byzantine Empire, as they being the true inheritors of the Roman Empire believed, Italy and Rome should be under their control(this tension would also eventually cause the Catholic and Orthodox Churches to split many decades later in the Great Schism). On May 7th 973 Otto the Great, passed away at the age of 60 having re-founded the Holy Roman Empire which would last until the early 1800's. -
ValeOfShadows (valeofshadows@poa.st)'s status on Monday, 13-May-2024 02:29:24 JST
ValeOfShadows
June 22nd 217B.C. Raphia(Rafah) Palestine.
After Alexander the Great's death in 323B.C. his empire was spilt among his generals also known as the Diadochi. The two largest portions went to Seleucus I Nicator who founded the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemy I Soter who became Pharaoh of Egypt and started the Ptolemaic dynasty of pharaohs. For many years the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt fought over the region known as Cole-Syria(modern-day Syria, Lebanon, and Northern Palestine). In 219B.C. Seleucid Emperor Antiochus III invaded the region and captured a vast amount of territory, with the aid of the Governor of Tyre Theodotus, who switched sides from Egypt to the Seleucids. In 218B.C. Pharaoh Ptolemy IV began gathering an army to reclaim the region from the Seleucids. By mid-218B.C. he set out for the Levant. By mid 217B.C. both armies had met near the town of Raphia.
The Ptolemaic Army had 75k men, 70k infantry, 5k cavalry, and 73 elephants. The Seleucids had 70k men, 64k infantry 6k cavalry and 102 elephants. The Seleucid elephants were Indian elephants which were much larger than the African elephants used by the Ptolemaic. These were also two of the largest armies assembled during the Hellenic Era. Both sides initially constructed fortified camps, and foraged the area for food where they fought small skirmishes against each other. During this time Theodotus came up with a daring plan and snuck into the Ptolemaic camp, located Ptolemy IV's royal tent, but when he entered the tent he did not find Ptolemy but his doctor who he ended up killing and managed to exit the camp unnoticed. On June 22nd Ptolemy assembled his army for battle and Antiochus assembled his army as well.
Ptolemy placed himself on the Ptolemaic left flank and Antiochus commanded the Seleucid right flank. The battle started when both sides sent their elephants forward to attack, but as the elephants fought many of the African elephants were said to have become disturbed by the smell of the Indian elephants, which ended up causing many of the African elephants to run off the battlefield. Antiochus took advantage of this and ordered the entire Seleucid right flank to attack, which resulted in the collapse of the Ptolemaic left flank and Antiochus chased them off of the battlefield. Ptolemy escaped and took command of his center. The Ptolemaic right then advanced on the Seleucid left. Ptolemy then had his center advance on the Seleucid center. Ptolemy's center had significantly more men than the Seleucids, so after hard fighting both the Seleucid center and right had broke. Antiochus who was still chasing after the fleeing soldiers from the Ptolemaic left, had just been informed by a messenger that his center and right had collapsed. Antiochus and his men turned around to head back to the battle, but by that time it was too late. Antiochus withdrew to his camp.
The Ptolemaic had lost 2k men, while the Seleucids had lost over 10k. The Battle of Raphia was considered to be one of the largest of the Hellenic Era. Despite Antiochus's loss at Raphia he would later go on to be one of the greatest Seleucid emperors expanding the empire's borders to it's largest extent and earing the title of Antiochus the Great.
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