Today π¬πͺcelebrate #Didgoroba. Didgoroba marks King David IV's defeat of the Seljuk Turks in the battle of Didgori, which ultimately led to the reconquest of Tbilisi,and brought about the Georgian Golden Age and is celebrated in the Georgian chronicles as a "Miraculous Victory" 1/
The Muslim powers became increasingly concerned about the rapid rise of the Christian state in the southern Caucasus and even considered it a greater threat than the Crusaders in Palestine, whom they managed to contain on the coast. 2/
In 1121, Sultan Mahmud Muhammad declared a holy war on π¬πͺand rallied a large coalition of Muslim states led by the Artuqid Najm al-din El-Δazi and ToΔrul Muhammad, the Seljuqid ruler of Arran and Nakhichevan.The coalition was also supported by lesser but important local rulers 3/
including the King of the Arabs Dubays Sadaqa and Tughan-Arslan,lord of Arzin, Bidlis and Dvin. Najm al-din El-Δazi had just celebrated his great victory over the Crusaders under King Roger of Antioch at Balat in 1119 & enjoyed the reputation of an experienced Muslim commander
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The size of the Muslim army is still a matter of debate with numbers ranging from a fantastic 600,000 men (Walter the Chancellorβs Bella Antiochena, Matthew of Edessa) to 400,000 (Smbat Sparapetβs Chronicle) while estimates of Georgian historians vary between 100,000β250,000. 5/
Muslims made massive preparations, gathered an army that was several times larger than any engaged in the Holy Land, and vastly outnumbered the Georgians. In mid-summer 1121, the Muslim troops advanced along various routes and Entering Georgian territory 6/
On 10 August, the enormous Muslim army bivouacked on a vast field near Didgori, about a dayβs march from Tbilisi.
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π¬πͺ battle plan involved a cunning move.On the morning of 12 August, some 200 cavalrymen departed the Georgian camp and rode to the enemy side,indicating they wanted to defect.The Muslim commanders,surprisingly, not only allowed them into the camp but also gathered to meet them 8/
At a signal, the Georgians suddenly unsheathed their swords and attacked them, killing and wounding most of them. Observing the confusion in the enemy camp, King David ordered a general attack on the enemy positions while his son Prince Demetre charged the enemy flank. 9/
With their leadership in disarray, the Muslims in the frontline failed to organize any resistance, while those in the back soon became so disorganized that the entire battle lasted only three hours before the enemy army fled in disorder.
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According to the Georgian chronicler, King Davidβs troops pursued them for three days, βputting all of them to the sword and leaving them to the carnivorous beasts and birds of the mountains and plains.β
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The Armenian historian Matthews wrote that βterrible and savage slaughter of the enemy troops ensued and the [enemy] corpses filled up the rivers and covered all valleys and cliffs,β and claimed that less than a hundred men survived from every thousand.
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The Muslim commander-in-chief El-Δazi himself was wounded and fled with the few surviving escorts while his son-in-law Dubays Sadaqa barely escaped. The Georgians captured the entire enemy camp and the fabulous riches it contained.
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The unification of Georgia and the elimination of Muslim authority was completed in the year following the battle at Didgori. David laid siege to and captured the city of Tbilisi which became a royal town, the capital of Georgia, "for ever an arsenal and capital for his sons" 14/
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A small UPD about the Pokrovsk direction by Kindratyuk
"Well, the situation near Pokrovsk is once again gradually turning critical.
ruSSians has re-occupied Kotlyne and Udachne (yet again) and is moving toward the Pokrovske mine management area β the very same coking coal mine 1/
They enter the mineβs territory in small groups but fail to hold positions for long, as they are quickly eliminated. Still, these are worrying signs.
In the southern part of the city, the occupiers constantly infiltrate the southern neighborhoods in small groups, taking 2/
over apartment buildings.
Our soldiers keep driving them out, but the situation has worsened and is now very difficult.
The only sector still holding is the flank near Rodynske. Itβs holding at a great cost β my nephew, Oleksandr Kindratyuk, was killed there β but it holds.
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βWe Had None, Today We Have a Surplusβ: Zelenskyy on Ukraineβs Artillery Comeback.
President Zelenskyy reflected on πΊπ¦ progress in overcoming past shortages of artillery and ammo, noting that the country has gone from having almost none to producing its own systems in surplus 1/
Zelenskyy made this statement in an interview on Oct 9.
βFor exple, when we had major problems w/ artilleryβat one point, we simply had noneβwe started using other means,β he said -Today we have artillery systems that we manufacture ourselves; we already have a surplus of them 2/
However, He explained that challenges remain with the 155mm caliberβthe NATO standard πΊπ¦ is gradually adopting.
He noted that even w/ enough artillery systems available, not all units can transition from older Soviet guns because the supply of 155mm shells is still limited 3/
The War Zone has published an interesting interview with Andriy Hertsenyuk, the new head of Ukraineβs state defense technology cluster Brave1, regarding ongoing efforts to develop indigenous air defense systems.
According to him, a missile program was launched in 2024, and 1/
currently dozens of companies are working on missiles of various classes, particularly surface-to-air. Several companies already have ready-made solutions undergoing testing at proving grounds and, in some cases, under combat conditions. At least some interceptors designed to
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counter cruise missiles are known to be undergoing trials in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.
In addition to missile development, there is also a need for new launchers.Although everything that can be restored or modernized is being put into use(the FrankenSam program, in which the
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The 1st documented use of the M712 Copperhead 155mm shell by the ZSU.
- Unit - SOF
- Location - Kursk
- Target - communication tower (between the Pravda and Martinivka settlements)
- Aiming device - a Leonardo's Type 163 LTD.
- Distance to the target 2256 meter.
- Gun - M777. 1/
- The 1st round - direct hit to the target (most antennas were damaged or destroyed)
- The 2nd round - direct hit, the tower was partially leaning
- The 3rd round - missed its target, reason - seeker's malfunction
The M712 is a ShCh round, so it was unable to destroy the tower 2/
The M777 crew had only three M712 rounds, so after that SOF group returned back.
Conclusion:
- The Type 163 LTD must illuminate the target straight or from down to up, from up to down designation don't recommend - target can reflect laser beam and affect the round seeker 3/
According to our various sources, France will supply between twelve and twenty Mirage 2000-5Fs to war-torn Ukraine next year. The Minister of the Armed Forces has targeted the first quarter, i.e. between January 1 and March 30, 2025. 1/
By then, the French teams must ensure the operational transformation of pilots and the advanced training of mechanics and gunsmiths. It is currently unknown whether one or more Mirage 2000B two-seaters will be integrated into the batch of aircraft supplied. 2/
On the other hand, what is certain is that from pure fighters specialized in air policing within the Air and Space Force, the Mirage 2000-5Fs will become multi-role combat aircraft in the ranks of the Povitryani Syly Zbroynykh Syl Ukrayiny. 3/