Byzantine Battles: Battle of Berzitia

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Battle of Berzitia (Battle of Lithosoria)	year: 774 October 774
The Byzantines surprised a Bulgarian raiding force and scored an easy victory	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Bulgarians	location: In the location Lithosoria, somewhere SE of Berzitia,a region between the lakes Ochrid and Prespes	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: Surprise attack	war: Early Bulgarian Wars	modern country: Greece

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Constantine V Kopronymos)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Emperor Constantine V	Unknown
Forces:	80,000	12,000
Losses:	Light	Heavy

Background story:

After an unsuccessful campaign of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V earlier in 774, the Bulgarian Khan Telerig decided to strike back to the southwest and sent a small raiding army of 12,000 to capture Berzitia, a Byzantine region inhabited by Slavs between the lakes Ochrid and Prespes.
The Byzantine emperor was informed for the raid in due time by his spies in Pliska and gathered a big army to face the enemy.

The Battle:

Bulgar horseman

Constantine with his army intercepted the Bulgarian force en route to Berzitia. The Bulgarians did not expect to meet an army there. They were outnumbered, taken by surprise and suffered heavy losses.

The battlefield was at a place named Lithosoria (meaning rubble). Its location is not known exactly. Most probably was in or close (to the SE) Berrzitia, that is to say somewhere SE of the territory between the lakes Ochrid and Prespes and the modern border of Greece-Albania-North Macedonia. However it is possible to have been further to the east. (We are not sure.)

Noteworthy:

Telerig suspected that there were spies in his court. To unmask them, he let the Byzantine emperor know that he would abdicate and go into exile in Constantinople. Constantine believed him and fulfilled his request to name the spies, allegedly to bring them to safety after Telerig's abdication.
However, Telerig had no intention to abdicate, as some Bulgarian rulers had done before him. After he received the list of spies, he immediately had them all executed.

Aftermath:

After the battle, Emperor Constantine returned to Constantinopolis with many prisoners and held a triumph to celebrate his success. He called the battle the “Noble War” because of the low losses.
Soon, he tried to invade Bulgaria, but he was stopped by the loss of many ships in a storm in the Black Sea (the same had happened some years ago).