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War Tactics Used By Alexander The Great
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Spears, bows and arrows, swords, cavalry, chariots and some light and heavy armour - these are what Alexander the Great had at his disposal. And ask anyone about who he was and what he did, the standard answer you get is "he ruled the world". With just these many weapons at his disposal? Makes you think, how did he manage it? He did not have the kind of technological know how that we now had, but he had the advantage of having been exposed to battles
along with his father. He had also been trained by people who had honed their skills in the battlefield. All this training and experience was put to good use by this master strategist and he went on to conquer the world. |
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The phalanx
The phalanx is the name given to a particular military formation. The
credit for having developed this formation goes to Alexander's father Philip
II. The phalanx is a box formation made up of infantry soldiers. The
number of men may vary from eight to thirty six. The men who made up
the front ranks were required to carry spears measuring at least
twelve feet in length. It was essential that all of them carried the
spears in an upright position. This would create a wall of spears.
Besides looking very formidable this formation had another function.
The wall of spears served to conceal what was going on inside the
formation. The soldiers inside could take aim and kill the enemies
without disturbance, as they themselves would be practically
invisible. And if the long spears were held horizontally then enemies
could be killed from a safe distance. The phalanx was considered a
very revolutionary development and was a very useful and potent
strategy. The men used for this formation were given thorough and
continuous practice in the form of drills. All the practice made them
perfect in their job. |
Alexander The Great |
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The phalanx was the pioneer formation that later led to the development of other formations used on the battlefield. The Romans surpassed the phalanx by developing another infantry formation. This formation was known as the legion and besides infantrymen it also used other weapons and armour too. |
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Less men, complex maneuvers
Alexander had an expert knowledge of complex maneuvers used during battle. His exposure to the real battleground had taught him the
maneuvers. His opponents would not be able to make out easily the number of men that he had at his disposal. The complex movements that he planned using less number of men brought in more results than a whole unit on its own would have brought.
Discipline and self confidence
He believed in training his soldiers thoroughly, in fact so thoroughly that their confidence in their skill would itself be a big morale booster. It is a well-known fact that the level of discipline and morale in his army was always high. It was in fact an inspiration for other armies.
Use of mercenaries
Another tactic used by him was to employ mercenaries to come and work with his men from time to time. Mercenaries were also soldiers but were different from the usual soldiers in the fact that they were not duty bound to serve the nation by joining the army. This was because they were mostly foreign nationals in high demand for the specific skills that they possessed. The mercenaries would be paid handsomely for their work.
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