Turkish military appreciation thread

[Böri]

Battle of Harim 1164

Location of Harim


The Battle of Harim/Harenc was fought on 12 August 1164 between the forces of Nureddin Zengi and a combined army from the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, the Byzantine Empire and Armenia. Nureddin won a crushing victory, capturing most of the leaders of the opposing army.




The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Oghuz Turkish origin, which ruled parts of Syria and northern Iraq on behalf of the Seljuk Empire.

Nureddin Zengi besieged the fortress of Harim/Harenc in 1164. As William of Tyre says, "he stationed his engines around it in the customary manner and began to assault the place with a fury which permitted the inhabitants no rest."
Reginald of Saint Valery, lord of Harim, called for help, and Raymond III of Tripoli, Bohemund III of Antioch, and Joscelin III of Edessa arrived to relieve the siege. They were joined by Konstantinos Kalamanos, the Byzantine governor of Cilicia, and Thoros, and Mleh of Armenia, as well as Hugh VIII of Lusignan and Geoffrey Martel, brother of William IV of Angoulême, both of whom had recently arrived on pilgrimage.

Nureddin prepared to give up the siege when they arrived, but the crusaders, inspired by the victory at al-Buqaia, and, "regardless of the rules of military discipline ... recklessly dispersed and roved hither and yon in pursuit of the foe." Nureddin's troops defended against their charge and led a counterattack, pushing the crusaders into a swamp, and they were massacred "like victims before the altar."

It is possible that Nureddin was only feigning a retreat in order to draw the crusaders into an ambush, but abandoning a siege when a relief army arrived was a standard tactic and Nureddin presumably had no way of knowing the crusaders would follow him. William's assertion that this was a reckless move is further evidence of this. "Only the Armenian Thoros, who had forseen the Turkish maneuver and had not set off in pursuit, escaped from the disaster". Mleh also avoided capture. Konstantinos Kalamanos, Hugh, Raymond, Bohemund, and Joscelin were captured and imprisoned in Aleppo. According to Ibn al-Athir, 10,000 crusaders were killed.

Zengid dynasty largest borders:

[gültekin]

Operation Sun 2008

[Böri]

Battle of Melitene 1100

In the Battle of Melitene/Malatya, a Crusader force led by Bohemond I of Antioch was defeated by Danishmend Turks commanded by Melik Gazi Gumushtekin.



After acquiring the Principality of Antioch in 1098, Bohemond allied himself with the Armenians of Cilicia. When Gabriel of Melitene and his Armenian garrison came under attack from the Danishmend state to their north, Bohemond marched to their relief with a Frankish force.

Melik Gazi's Danishmends ambushed the expedition and most of the Crusaders were killed. Bohemond was captured along with Richard of Salerno. Among the dead were the Armenian bishops of Marash and Antioch. Bohemond was held for ransom until 1103, and his rescue became the object of one column of the ill-fated Crusade of 1101.

This battle ended the string of victories enjoyed by the participants of the First Crusade. Baldwin, Count of Edessa and later king of Jerusalem, successfully relieved Melitene afterward. However, the Danishmends seized the town in 1101.


Around year 1100, location of Danishmends principality:

[gültekin]

recruits singing: wasnt enough to you Konya girl

Vatan sana canım feda

[Siberian Cold Breeze]

Konya kızı çok güzelmiş ..
I love my language ,sounds powerful and splendid in military marches and commands .

[Proto-Shaman]

Konya kızı çok güzelmiş ..
I love my language ,sounds powerful and splendid in military marches and commands .

All authors of adab works, manuals of war, and mirrors for princes, agree on the military superiority of the Turks, their hardiness, their skill with horses and the bow and arrow, as well as their 'lion-like' qualities and pride since antiquity.

[Böri]

They werent Oghuz like most Anatolian/Balkan Turks. They were Cuman-Kipchak like Crimean Tatar brothers (minority of modern Turks are Kipchak descent). Today few people remember these heroes. They were Kipchak brethens and brothers from West Kazakh and Russian areas captured by Mongolians and sold as slaves. They rised together with other slave soldiers (mostly Circassians) and took control of Egypt and did wonders later by grace of Allah. Egypt, country of Arabized Coptes, was called Turkish state or country of land of Turks, in Arabic Ed-Dewleti Türkiye or Mamelakat-i Türkiye when Kipchak Mamluks ruled it and experience golden age. Seyfeddin Kutuz, Rukneddin Baybars and other. We must not forget them in this thread as few people in Arab or overall Muslim world dont seem to remember. Also in their age, in Egyptian court and army Turkish language spoken despite more than 99% of people in Egypt didnt speak Turkic. They were a elite class (Kipchak) inside the elite class (Mamluks) of Egypt.



Battle of Ain Jalut 1260

The Battle of Ain Jalut took place on 3 September 1260 between Muslim Mamluks and the Mongols. The battle marked the extent of Mongol conquests, and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been permanently beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. This is the battle that saved Islam from Mongolians.

Location of Ain Jalut (today in Israel)


In 1260, Hulagu (grandson of Genghis Khan) sent envoys to Qutuz in Cairo, demanding his surrender. Qutuz responded by killing the envoys and displaying their heads on Bab Zuweila, one of the gates of Cairo.



The opposing forces met at Ain Jalut on September 3, 1260, both sides numbering about 20,000 men. The first to advance were the Mongols. The Mamluks had the advantage of knowledge of the terrain, and Qutuz capitalized on this by hiding the bulk of his force in the highlands, hoping to bait the Mongols with a smaller force under Baibars. The two armies fought restlessly for many hours, with Mamluk leader Baibars most of the time implementing hit-and-run tactics, in order to provoke the Mongol troops and at the same time preserve the bulk of his troops intact. When the Mongols carried out another heavy assault, Baibars and his men feigned a final retreat, drawing the Mongols into the highlands to be ambushed by the rest of the Mamluk forces, who were concealed among the trees in the highlands. The Mongol leader Kitbuqa, already provoked by the constant fleeing of Baibars and his troops, committed a grave mistake; instead of suspecting a trick, Kitbuqa decided to march forwards with all his troops on the trail of the fleeing Mamluks. When the Mongols reached the highlands, Mamluk forces appeared from hiding and began to fire arrows and attack with their cavalry. The Mongols then found themselves surrounded on all sides by the Mamluk forces.

The Mongol army fought very fiercely and very aggressively to break out. Some distance away, Qutuz watched with his private legion. When Qutuz saw the left wing of the Mamluk army almost destroyed by the desperate Mongols seeking an escape route, Qutuz threw away his combat helmet, so that his warriors could recognize him. He was seen the next moment rushing fiercely towards the battlefield yelling "wa islamah!" (Oh my Islam), urging his army to keep firm and advanced towards the damaged side followed by his own unit. The Mongols were pushed back and fled to a vicinity of Bisan followed by Qutuz's forces but they managed to gather and returned to the battlefield making a successful counterattack. However, the battle shifted in favor of the Mamluks, who now had both the geographic and the psychological advantage, and eventually some of the Mongols were forced to retreat. When the battle ended, the Mamluk heavy cavalrymen had accomplished what had never been done before, beating the Mongols in close combat. Almost the whole Mongol army that had remained in the region, including Kitbuqa, was destroyed.

[Charles Bronson]

http://www.jandarma.tsk.tr/ing/dis/takm/takm_en.htm

http://www.internethaber.com/turan-o...mu-498987h.htm

[Böri]

Battle of Kosovo 1389

In 1388, a Crusaders army of Serbians, Bosnians and Albanians defeated a small Ottoman army near Ploshnik (south of Nish). This was bad event as Ottomans could lose psychological advantage they had since they foot stepped in Balkans. Sultan Murad I knew he must act immediately. Murad I gathers his army in Edirne and decided to march against Serbia from south, Macedonia region.

The battle of Kosovo field took place in 1389 between the army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, and the army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad Hüdavendigâr. Both armies numbered around 30.000 soldiers.



Murad's army included circa 20.000 azaps and akıncıs, 6000 Sipahis, 2500 mounted personnal guards of Murad and finally 1500-2000 Janisseries. Murad led the center, Yakup the left flank and Bayezid the right flank.
Serbian king's army included his 15.000-20.000 soldiers also 10.000-12.000 soldiers sent by Bosnian king Tvrtko I led by Serbian commander Vlatko Vukoviç.

Initial troops deployments when the two armies met north of Prishtina (capital of Kosova today):


The battle commenced with Ottoman archers shooting at Serbian cavalry, who then made ready for the attack. After positioning in a wedge formation, the Serbian cavalry managed to break through the Ottoman left wing, but were not as successful against the center and the right wing.
The Serbs had the initial advantage after their first charge, which significantly damaged the Ottoman left wing commanded by Yakub Çelebi.



When the Serbian knights' charge was finished, light Ottoman cavalry and light infantry counter-attacked and the Serbian heavy armour became a disadvantage. In the center, Serbian fighters managed to push back Ottoman forces, except for Bayezid's right wing.
The Ottomans, in a ferocious counter-attack from right flank led by Bayezid, pushed the Serbian forces back and then prevailed later in the day, routing the Serbian infantry. Both flanks still held, with Vuković's (Serbian left) drifting toward the center to compensate for the heavy losses inflicted on the Serbian infantry.


After destroying the Serbian army, Murad was killed by a wounded Serb's kniving when he was walking in battlefield among the dead soldiers.

TRT School TV short documentary about Sultan Murat:


Sultan şehit? Şehit İnşallah.

[Mraz]

Serbian king's army included his 15.000-20.000 soldiers also 10.000-12.000 soldiers sent by Bosnian king Tvrtko I led by Serbian commander Vlatko Vukoviç.

Vlatko Vukovic was a Duke of Bosnian King.