How did the Second Persian War end?

After the armistice between the two sides, the new Persian King Kusru I (53 1-532 reigned) took peace as an opportunity to stabilize the domestic political situation. After ruthlessly suppressing political opponents, consolidating their position and taking control of state affairs, they began to vigorously carry out domestic political, economic and military reforms. First of all, encourage the development of agriculture, popularize farming techniques, and immigrate to sparsely populated border areas in large numbers; Secondly, vigorously repairing roads and developing transportation are not only conducive to military mobilization, but also convenient for trade; Third, reform the military system, focus on infantry composed of armored cavalry and farmers, establish a new regular army, and enhance the training and organizational discipline of the army; Fourth, vigorously carry out tax reform to increase national fiscal revenue. He changed the old system of arbitrary apportionment of taxes by officials and nobles and began to levy fixed land tax and poll tax, which were paid twice a year; In addition, he also rewarded the development of handicrafts, vigorously developed cultural and educational undertakings, and founded the University of Susa. These measures consolidated the position of Persian royal family and centralized rule, and also strengthened the political, economic and military strength of Persia. Therefore, the reign of Kusrou I was called the golden age of Sassanpolis.

Kusru I was an ambitious man. The purpose of his reform is to strengthen national strength, invade and expand abroad and expand territory. However, when he was committed to solving domestic problems, the Byzantine army had conquered the kingdom of Vandal and was attacking the kingdom of East Goth. Therefore, Kusru I was very upset. He was jealous of Justinian I's success and worried that the powerful Byzantine forces would threaten the existence of Persia. He was moping all day, thinking hard about the countermeasures. At this time, at the end of 539 A.D., Vitigis, the king of the Eastern Gothic, sent a special envoy to meet Kusrou I, telling him that the Kingdom of the Eastern Gothic was in jeopardy under the attack of the Byzantine army commanded by Belisario, so he urged Kusrou I to send troops to Byzantium as soon as possible to alleviate the pressure on the Kingdom of the Eastern Gothic and attack the Byzantine Empire from both sides. Kusru I didn't want to see Byzantium defeat the Eastern Gothic kingdom and gain strength, so he accepted the request. He thought that the main forces of the Byzantine army were under the command of Belisario, and the country must be empty; Moreover, Armenians and Colt are dissatisfied with Byzantine rule, and if they take this opportunity to wage war, they will surely win. So, he first instigated Arab chiefs to attack the Byzantine Empire, then tore up the peace treaty and declared war on Byzantium in the name of aiding Arabs, and the war broke out again.

In the spring of 540 AD, Kusru I led an army to set off from Taixi Peak, the capital, and marched along the west bank of the Euphrates River. The Byzantines were caught off guard, and the Byzantine army was weak in the Euphrates River and could not confront the Persian army. Therefore, at the beginning of the war, Kusru I gave the Byzantine army a blow that had not been received since the Adriatic Fort. After suppressing the rebellion in the small town of Sura, Kusru I led troops to attack cities such as Hilapolis and Calci, extorting huge ransom, and then went straight to Antioch, the Syrian capital.

Antioch is the second largest city in eastern Byzantium, with dense population and magnificent architecture. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the Orendez River on one side, it has built strong fortresses around the city. Shoujiang is Justinian I's nephew. He holds this position entirely by his in-laws and has no command ability at all. Although 6000 reinforcements sent by Justinian I had entered the city before the encirclement of the Persian army was formed, the arrival of reinforcements did not improve the morale of the army. After the Persian army besieged the city, Kusru I ordered the army to attack the city. Tens of thousands of Persian soldiers carried ladders on their shoulders and stormed the city again and again. In the brutal and fierce fighting, Byzantine troops suffered more casualties, and many soldiers broke through the side door and fled. Jimo (a regional organization of citizens, with an optional district head in charge of public security) sent a large number of young and middle-aged people to support the remaining soldiers in the city to resist, but under the final general attack of Persian troops, Antioch fell. In retaliation, Kusru I ordered Persian troops to burn, kill and plunder. Temples were looted, houses were burned, people were slaughtered, the whole city was terrible, and the remaining residents were taken to Persia. Later, Kusrou I invaded the eastern Mediterranean.

This year, Kusru I led Persian troops galloping on the eastern territory of Byzantine Empire, and achieved a series of victories like nobody's business and plundered countless treasures. In the face of victory, Kusru I became more and more arrogant and ambitious. He thought that it was no longer a problem to seize Asia Minor from the Byzantine Empire, and even Constantinople, the capital of the empire, would turn to dust under the iron hoof of the Persian army.

Justinian I, the Byzantine emperor, was very alarmed when he got the news that Persian troops invaded and looted. He quickly recalled Belisarius, who commanded the battle in Italy, and appointed him as the commander-in-chief to conquer Persia. In 54 1 year, Belisario rushed back from the Italian battlefield, leaving his military uniform intact and heading for the Syrian battlefield.

At this time, after more than ten years of countless wars, Belisario had already become an outstanding cavalry commander and tactician. He established a 7,000-man personal cavalry composed of Byzantines and some barbarians. Wearing chain mail, equipped with Germanic spears and Persian bows and arrows, they acted quickly and bravely in the battle, and became the main force of Byzantine army, known as "armored soldiers". As a general, Belisario knows the importance of soldiers, so he loves soldiers very much and cherishes their lives. In battle, he always takes the lead and leads his cavalry to gallop the battlefield, fighting bravely, so he is respected and loved by soldiers. After arriving at the Eastern Front, Belisario immediately led the Byzantine army forward and camped on the Euphrates River. He inspected and studied the battlefield situation in detail, and decided to take the tactics of luring the snake out of the hole to lure the Persian army out of the fortress and ambush it. However, the plan failed because of the lax military discipline and low combat effectiveness of the Arab mercenaries who carried out the task of luring the enemy. At this time, due to family disputes, Justinian I recalled Berisha to Constantinople, and he had to leave the front line temporarily. The Persian army took the opportunity to attack, and the Byzantine army, which lacked a coach, was unwilling to fight and lost ground. In 542, when Belizeans returned to the front, Byzantine troops had retreated to the city of Hilapolis. He immediately threw himself into the work of establishing a new front, and at the same time encouraged the soldiers to cheer up and forge ahead bravely. Soon, he established a new line of defense between Hilapolis and the Euphrates River. The new defense line consists of an echelon of cavalry and infantry, and the first line is a mobile unit consisting of 6000 cavalry; The second line consists of barbarians such as Goths, Vandals and Iberians. Each infantry battalion is divided into four teams. The first team holds a whip, the second team holds a sword, the third team holds a bow, and the fourth team uses an axe. In addition, in response, 1000 Armenian cavalry was deployed on the east bank of the Euphrates River.

I know that Belisario is a brave and strategic great warrior. When he saw that the Byzantine army was ready to fight, he decided to give up the attack and avoid a decisive battle with Belisario. So he led his troops to attack the north and plundered the northern shore of the Black Sea.

At this time, the Black Death (plague), which was prevalent in the European continent, raged in Byzantium. Under the attack of the Black Death, a large number of residents in Constantinople died, and at most, nearly 10,000 people died of the plague one day. At the same time, the Black Death also threatened the armies of the warring parties, so the two armies had to call a truce. Belisario, who stayed at the front line, used the truce to train and exercise the army. At this time, a message reached the front, saying that Justinian I died of the Black Death. A Ministry will take the opportunity to persuade Belizeans to use his military power to seize the throne. This incident was reported to Constantinople, and Justinian I was afraid that Belizeans would be highly praised. At this time, he recalled Belizeans, confiscated his property, deprived him of Qin Bing, cut off his post, and made the Byzantine army lose an outstanding commander in chief.

Seeing the internal disputes in Byzantium, Kusru I felt that there was an opportunity, so he invaded Armenia in 543 AD and wiped out 30,000 Byzantine troops who came to attack. In 544, Kusrou I personally marched into Mesopotamia again and besieged the capital Nebuchadnezzar for several months. However, many siege wars launched by the Persian army failed because of the high risk of the city. Helpless, he led the army back to Nisibis.

In 545 AD, the two sides concluded an armistice agreement valid for five years. According to the agreement, Persia returned the occupied territory to Byzantium, and Byzantium paid 2000 pounds of Persian gold. The second Persian war ended here.

The two sides have not yet fought a decisive battle in this war. Because Justinian I adopted the policy of keeping peace with money, the war stopped temporarily, but the factors leading to the war have not been eliminated. War is still the only means to solve the contradiction between the two sides. Therefore, the third Persian War broke out in 549 AD.