Ranatovce

History

Ranatovce is a very historical town, for it was the site of the great Battle of Ranatovce, part of the war raging in Eastern Europe in 172 B.C. pitting Yugoslavia against the Byzantines. Most historians agree that the Battle of Ranatovce was the turning point in the war, putting Yugoslavia in the winning tide. But the Yugoslavic people did not win this battle by numbers, for they were outmatched by the Byzantines 8:1. Instead, the Yugoslavic people had to rely on high-risk tactics. The Yugoslavs only had a small militia that were defending the east side of the village while the Byzantine army had seized the west and north sides. The Yugoslavs were outnumbered and had to hold out a week for reinforcements to arrive. It was vital that they kept Ranatovce because it was the only town for miles and the last barrier for the Yugoslavic army. The Yugoslavs in Ranatovce had to think quick. They decided to go with what many historians declare the boldest militia attack plan in all of history. First, they tore down huts and took wood from the lumberyard which was luckily located only in the east side of the village and used these materials to construct a makeshift catapult, with this, they launched bales of hay set aflame towards the Byzantines. The west and north sides of Ranatovce were burned down leaving piles of rubble and forcing the Byzantines out for a whole day and caused them to decide to stay outside of Ranatovce for the night. With the Byzantines temporarily gone and the fires extinguished, soldiers of the Yugoslav militia went and hid underneath the rubble at dusk and stayed there all night. When the Byzantines returned, the militia attacked them by surprise. Even though they were slaughtered in a battle lasting only about 15 minutes, the Yugoslavs managed to cripple the Byzantine army. The Byzantines lost almost 2/3 of their men, making it easy for the Yugoslav army to clean up and take back Ranatovce when they arrived a few days later.