1 Macedonia was still a mountainous country in northern Greece during the Peloponnesian War, but when Athens and Sparta were both defeated in the war, this effect got an opportunity to take advantage of it. This is first of all due to Alexander's father Philip, who gave Alexander a good foundation. After the fall of Thebes, he led Macedonia to begin to expand its power in Greece. Although Thebes and Athens United and formed a Panhellenic League, they even found support from Persia, but in 338 BC, Philip defeated the Panhellenic League in one fell swoop at the Battle of Chaeronea (it is worth mentioning that Alexander was the left The commander-in-chief of the Route Army, Philip himself commanded the Right Route Army), that year, he was elected as the leader of the Greek League at the Corinthian Conference. After that, he began to prepare for an expedition to Persia, and it seemed that no one could stop him.
But unfortunately, Death took away Philip in 336 BC, and he left his great cause to his son, the protagonist of our story, Alexander. Alexander was born in 356 BC and was only 20 years old when he inherited the Macedonian throne. It is said that Alexander was of medium build, had fair skin, and was accustomed to tilting his head to his left shoulder. He runs so fast that even professional athletes are no match for him. At the same time, he also loves hunting and reading, and has amazing energy and courage. At the same time, he is also a realist, and all his fantasies will not exceed the scope of reason. At the same time, he was also influenced by Aristotle. From the age of 13, Alexander lived in a small village with his teacher Aristotle for three years. Under his influence, he developed a special love for Greek culture. At the same time, There was a lot of hatred towards Persia (Aristotle's relatives and friends were killed by the Persians).
What Alexander inherited from his father was not only the empire’s army and territory, but more importantly, Alexander received his father’s military system and strategic concepts. The Macedonian military formation at that time was relatively advanced. The mixed phalanx, the military organization of the Macedonian phalanx is very similar to the organization of the modern army. Usually 64 people form a platoon, 128 people form a company, 256 people form a battalion, 1024 people form a regiment, and 4096 people form a division (i.e. primary phalanx). The primary phalanx is the same as a modern division. It is a self-contained multi-arms combat force. In addition to heavy infantry, it also includes 2048 light shield soldiers, 1024 auxiliary soldiers and a 1024-man cavalry regiment, totaling 8192 people. Such a mixed formation makes the Macedonian phalanx more tactically flexible and impactful. At the same time, Macedonia was also the first Greek country to regard cavalry as the main force. In the past Greek phalanx, cavalry was often used as an auxiliary force due to technical limitations and was unable to exert its impact. However, in Macedonia, cavalry plays an important role. They can attack the opponent's flank and serve as the main force of the battle. Sometimes the enemy army collapses before the infantry even enters the battle.
After Alexander succeeded to the throne, the situation in Macedonia was not optimistic. The death of Philip made the Greek alliance begin to loosen. Several countries were encouraged by Persia and other reasons to prepare to break away from Macedonian control. Alexander spent two years. Within a year, he regained control of the situation and prepared for the Eastern Expedition. In 336 BC, two years after Philip's death, Alexander embarked on the Eastern Expedition.
In the spring of 334 BC, Alexander set out from the coast of Dardanelles and began to march southward, defeating the Persian covering force on the Granica River. Alexander then continued south to attack Chardy. This is the political and economic hub of Lydia. He then commanded the army to turn to Efesu in the west. The city was forced to surrender, and in July, the Macedonian army captured Miletas. Now, Alexander returned to the shores of the Aegean Sea. He was faced with a problem. He wanted to destroy the Persian control of the sea, but was unable to fight against the Persian fleet, so he chose a long and simple method: capture all the Persians on the eastern Mediterranean coast. Using the ports and supply bases, the Persian fleet lost its ability to move and supply, and was slowly trapped. This was a long and long process.
In 333 BC, after a year of fighting, Macedonia had controlled almost all the ports in Asia Minor. In order to continue to implement his plan, Alexander turned south and prepared to enter Syria to seal the ports on the east coast of the Mediterranean. When Alexander advanced to the Malassas area, he suddenly received a report that the Persians had crossed the Amanian Pass and occupied Issus, cutting off Alexander's supply line. After hearing this, Alexander immediately led his army to retreat and rushed back to Issus. There, they defeated the Persian army commanded by King Darius III of Persia and ensured the safety of the logistics supply line. In this battle, Alexander captured Darius's mother, wife and children, and even captured Darius' cloak and weapons.
After the battle, Alexander was not eager to follow the defeated Persian army and take the opportunity to attack Babylon. Instead, he continued south along the coast. In 332 BC, Macedonia occupied all Persian naval bases and available ports on the east coast of the Mediterranean. Advancing into Palestine and capturing Gaza City. At the end of that year, Alexander conquered Egypt and named a port after himself, which later became Alexandria. Many cities were named after Alexander, but this port was the most famous of them all.
The following year, Alexander handed over the jurisdiction of Egypt to the local pharaoh, and then refocused his attention to the Persian direction in the east. Darius III wrote to Alexander, offering to negotiate peace with Macedonia at the expense of seven western provinces, but Alexander refused. Alexander then conquered Mesopotamia. Darius III shrank to the vicinity of Arbela (an Assyrian ancient city in present-day northern Iraq) on the east bank of the Tigris River, and reorganized a larger army, including heavy cavalry and numerous chariots composed of people from the Iranian steppes. wait. Darius made a mistake. There were two obstacles in front of him that could stop Alexander: the Euphrates River and the Tigris River. However, for some unknown reason, Darius gave up resisting in the two river areas and retreated directly to the east bank of the Tigris River. When When Alexander came to the Tigris River, he found that there was no resistance. Although the river was very fast, it was not very difficult to cross the river without resistance.
In 331 BC, the Macedonian army crossed the Tigris River and detected the whereabouts of the Persian cavalry four days later. Alexander immediately ordered the troops to form a battle formation and advance. In the following days, Alexander personally led the reconnaissance troops and the royal squadron attacked several Persian cavalry stations. The Persian cavalry immediately retreated when they saw the Macedonian army. Most of the cavalry were able to escape, but a small number of Persian soldiers were still captured with their horses and men. From their mouths, they learned that Darius led The large army is not far away, with about 40,000 cavalry, 1 million infantry, 200 chariots, and about 15 war elephants (the above figures are based on Arrian's Alexander Expedition, but according to many researches, this number is considered obvious Too large, a reasonable estimate is about 250,000, including 200,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry. This number is based on Mr. New Xianzhong's "History and Strategy"). In comparison, Alexander's Macedonian army numbered approximately 47,000. Among them, there are about 7,000 cavalry. The Persian army was large in number mainly because he assembled a large number of tribal units, including Indians in the Bactrian border area in the east of the empire and soldiers from remote tribes such as the Sakas in Scythia in the northeast of the empire. Darius arranged his army to camp in Gaugamela, more than 100 kilometers away from the city of Abela. The reason for choosing this place as the battlefield was largely because the terrain here was flat and open, and the plain area was ideal for chariot troops. An ideal battlefield for cavalry and cavalry. At the same time, in the Battle of Issus, Darius believed that the terrain battlefield was too narrow to give full play to the absolute advantage in force. On this open terrain, the Persians could better use their advantage in force to overwhelm the Macedonians. . Darius removed obstacles from the plain and turned Gaugamela into a huge parade ground. After Alexander received the intelligence that the main force of the Persian army was nearby, he ordered the troops to camp on the spot and set up defenses around the camp. After the Macedonian troops rested in place for four days, leaving behind their baggage troops and luggage, the combat troops began to move toward the main stream. At the same time, Darius also learned through the withdrawing cavalry that the Macedonian army had arrived, so he ordered his troops to get into battle formation. When the two sides were about 5 kilometers apart, Alexander discovered Darius's army, so after studying with his men, he decided to temporarily camp and rest, and at the same time led the reconnaissance troops to conduct a comprehensive reconnaissance of the battlefield. That night, Balminio suggested that Alexander attack Perce's army in the dark, but he was opposed by Alexander. Alexander hoped to conquer the Persians through an honest and comprehensive victory. This was September 30, 331 BC.
The Persians had already deployed the battle formation. After passing the battle, written materials were obtained. The Persian army was deployed as follows: Bactrian cavalry on the left wing, Dahan people (one of the Scythian tribes) and Aracotia The cavalry and infantry units composed of human beings were also mixed with them. Their right wing was a mixed unit of Persian cavalry and infantry, followed by Persian Susian cavalry and infantry composed of Cadusians, extending from the left wing to the center. Bessos served as the commander-in-chief (Bessos, the governor of Bactria, the person who finally betrayed Darius. He was captured and executed by Alexander.). At the top of the right wing, concentrated were the Syrian cavalry and the Mesopotamian troops, followed by the Medites, and with them were the cavalry troops composed of Parsians and Scythians, and then Next came the Tapurians and Hycanians, and finally the Albanians and Shasesinians, until the center of the entire phalanx, and the commander of the entire right wing was Machas. In the center of the army is where Darius and the royal family are located, commanded by Darius himself. This is a Persian force composed of Persian nobles. These Persians all have golden apples on their spears (the apple symbolizes the sun). Next came the Indians, then called "immigrant" Carians, and the Martian crossbowmen. Behind them were the Uxians, Babylonians, Red Sea tribes, and Sitarsinians, all forming a deep formation. It is impossible to verify exactly how such a large force was deployed, but it is recorded that Darius placed the cavalry troops on the front line and the infantry followed behind to form a second line force.
At the forefront of the left wing, directly facing Alexander's right wing, were the Scythian cavalry, about 1,000 Bactrian cavalry, and a hundred chariots. In front of Darius' royal squadron were fifteen war elephants and fifty chariots. At the front of the right wing were the Armenian and Cappadocian cavalry, and fifty chariots.
The Greek mercenaries flanked Darius and his royal Persian troops, facing the Macedonian infantry phalanx.
As for Macedonia, Alexander made the following deployment: Alexander himself and the royal squadron commanded by Cleitas lined up in front of the right end point of the entire right wing (there is a little personal opinion here, in Arrian's Alexander expedition In the book, the concept of companion cavalry is mentioned. Males of the Macedonian nobles must perform military service when they reach a certain age and join the king's guard. The cavalry unit of the guard is the companion cavalry. They are the elite of the guard. (strength), and next to them on the left wing was the squadron of Glaucias, followed by Aristo, Sopolis, Heraclides, Demetrius, Merigor, and others. The cavalry squadron he led, and finally the royal squadron of Hegrochus, all the cavalry were commanded by Philotas, the son of Balminio. At their front was an advance guard composed of Agyrianians, Macedonian crossbowmen and Russ javelinmen. Their task was to use long-range firepower to break up the opponent's phalanx and provide cover for the cavalry assault behind them. In the Macedonian infantry phalanx next to the cavalry, there was first the most elite Guards Corps, followed by other Guards troops, under the unified command of Philotas's brother Nikanor. The order of battle of the heavy infantry phalanx in the middle is as follows: Coras is on the right, followed by the troops of Perdiccas, Miligi, Miligi, Polisipuron, Ximenmias and Cratilas. . As usual, all the infantry on the left wing were commanded by Cratilas. On the left are the Greek cavalry led by Eligias and the Dessaraean cavalry led by Philip. Balminio, the commander of the entire left wing, was at the far left front of the team, and was escorted by the Sesalli cavalry beside him.
In addition, Alexander also arranged reserve troops behind the first-line troops, arranged behind the left and right wings respectively, facing the front on both sides in a figure-eight shape. On the right wing, the reserve consisted of the remaining half Agyrianians, half Macedonian crossbowmen, mercenaries known as the Old Guard. In front of them, the Paeonian cavalry and light cavalry scouts led by Ariosto and Aritis were arranged. Finally, Menidas, as the commander of the right wing, led the mercenary cavalry at the front of the right wing team. Alexander ordered: If the Persian army attempts to outflank the Macedonian army's right flank, Menidas's flank troops should detour and attack the opponent's flank to support the flank of the front line troops from being encircled. On the left wing, Alexander deployed the Thracian troops led by Thetaxis. On their left were the Greek coalition cavalry and the Adriatic cavalry. At the front of these troops, Alexander also deployed foreign cavalry troops. The baggage was guarded by Thracian infantry.
After the formation of the two armies, it can be seen that both sides have their own plans. Darius hopes to use the front-line cavalry to detour the two wings, and at the same time use the power of chariots and war elephants to disrupt the Macedonian front. The phalanx, while the cavalry and infantry arranged behind the chariots and war elephants took advantage of the chaos to divide the Macedonian central front. Due to his absolute strength advantage, Darius chose this tactic of advancing across the board. In fact, this tactical area also played a role. As Alexander was at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, he chose the usual hammer-and-anvil tactics, or iron-forging tactics. The right wing of the Macedonian army was obviously stronger than the left wing. The cavalry was numerous and elite among the Guards, and had strong combat effectiveness. . If the cavalry on the right wing could repel the left wing of the opposite Persian army and press the main force of the Persian army onto the chopping block composed of the Macedonian right-wing infantry, then Alexander would be able to win. At the same time, in order to cope with the shortage of troops, Alexander creatively deployed a second front. Due to the large number of Persian troops, it was likely to develop a rather long front, which could transcend the end points of the Macedonian army's flanks and detour back to the rear of the Horse army. Especially the right wing of the Hammer, once outflanked by the enemy, is likely to be surrounded, which is likely to lead to the collapse of the entire Macedonian army. Worrying about this problem, Alexander ordered Menidas to command the second line of cavalry to attack the Persian army's flank when the Persian army went beyond the end point of its front right flank to ensure the safety of the right flank, so that his tactical plan could be implemented smoothly. When there is no danger on the flanks, these second-line troops can also rotate inward to a parallel and frontal direction to strengthen the impact of the first-line troops.
The next day, the two armies began to approach each other, and Alexander could already see Darius standing conspicuously on a towering chariot in the middle of the guard. He was a tall and handsome man, protected by many of the best horsemen. These cavalry formed a dense and orderly formation, ready to meet the enemy. They could even see the golden apples on the spears of the Persian royal guards clearly. From the beginning, the right wing of the Macedonian army became the focus of the battlefield. Alexander did not start a frontal attack as Darius expected, but led his troops to start diagonally to the right (that is, the left side of the Persians). Darius' original plan of outflanking seemed to be in danger. If Alexander continued to extend to the right, he would surpass the Persian left wing and enter an area with uneven terrain. Then the Persian cavalry would not be able to circle back to Alexander's flank, and would also face There was a danger of being outflanked, so Darius ordered the Bactrian cavalry and Dahan cavalry on the left to also extend to the left, far beyond the right flank of Alexander's army, in order to block the flank of the Macedonian army that was extending to the right.
Alexander immediately ordered the reserve force on the right side of Minidas to advance to meet the enemy. Minidas directly led the mercenary cavalry to attack the Bactrian cavalry that was detouring towards the right wing of the horse army. However, the number of Minidas' mercenary cavalry was quite small. There are only about 400 people. In response, Bishas, ??the commander of the Persian army's left wing, sent the Scythian cavalry at the front of the left wing. These cavalry were the more combat-effective part of the Persian cavalry. Both the riders and the horses were well protected by armor. Together with the Bactrian cavalry, they relied on numbers. The advantage blocked Menidas' counterattack and dealt a major blow to the opponent. The impact of the Scythian cavalry broke through the formation of the Macedonian army's right wing, causing chaos. Darius thought this was an opportunity and ordered the deployment on 100 chariots on the left wing attacked, hoping to break up the Macedonian phalanx and speed up the collapse of the horse army's right wing. But Alexander was well prepared. The vanguard force composed of Macedonian crossbowmen and Russ javelinmen deployed in front of the right wing launched a long-range attack on the chariots, and quickly defeated the Persian chariot charge. Only a small number of chariots were fighting with bows and arrows. They survived the javelin attack, but when they rushed in front of the Macedonian phalanx, the Macedonians quickly made way for a passage. The chariots that passed through the phalanx were captured one by one by the Guards behind them. The chariots had no impact on the Macedonian army. cause any loss. Macedonia quickly stabilized its position after a period of chaos. The Paionian cavalry on the right wing and the mercenaries known as the Old Guard also received orders to support Menidas from both wings in the counterattack. The horse cavalry squadrons came one after another. The squadron of Scythian cavalry charged, and the two sides launched a close-range cavalry battle. At this time, the excellent fighting will and discipline of the Macedonian army took effect, and they repelled the Persian army with huge casualties.
At the same time, the situation on the left wing of Macedonia was relatively peaceful. Originally, Darius planned to detour on both wings, so when his left wing detoured the right wing of the Horse Army, the Persian army's right cavalry also detoured back to the Macedonian army. The side of the left wing. However, because Alexander adopted an oblique movement method, which placed the left wing relatively far back, and with the protection of reserves on the side, the Persian army did not make much progress there. However, Alexander's continuous extension to the right made the Macedonian army's left and right wings The distance between them is widening, and the situation is not optimistic.
At this point, neither side has gained any advantage, but the battlefield situation is relatively unfavorable for Alexander. Due to his absolute disadvantage in military strength, he cannot break through the interception of the Persian army's right wing, and thus cannot bypass the Persian army's attack. flank. Although the Persian army's breakthrough was also contained, the numerical advantage meant that the Persian army was in a relatively better situation, because on their right wing, the Macedonian army had shown signs of decline. The Macedonian army had fewer troops and could not maintain a long front like the Persian army. , even with a shorter front, it was more difficult for the Macedonian army to maintain. This created a large gap in the center of the Macedonian army, which gave the Persians a good opportunity, but the subsequent development of the battle was not as Darius expected. The same.
Since the existing cavalry units on the left wing were unable to complete the detour mission, Bishas ordered the remaining cavalry units on the left wing to come to the battlefield for reinforcements, but this still failed to break through the blockade of the Macedonian left wing. At the same time, , Alexander found a gap in the center of the Persian army. Since the Persians put all the left-wing cavalry into roundabout combat, a huge manpower vacuum was created between the Persian left wing and the center. This was a coveted opportunity for Alexander. He immediately concentrated his right-wing Guards cavalry and the right side of the central infantry line. The four infantry phalanxes formed a huge wedge-shaped assault group. The four infantry phalanxes - from Nicanor's light infantry battalion to Milliag's Polypeson infantry phalanx - formed the left side of the offensive arrow. Wing, while the relatively shorter right wing and broad front were composed of Alexander and his Guards Cavalry. This huge wedge-shaped formation rotated towards the center and squeezed through the gap in the Persian line, and then moved towards the center again. Detouring to the left, heading straight towards the center of the Persian army where Darius was located, and in order to avoid the assault group's rear being threatened by the Persian left wing, the light cavalry and infantry on the right wing of the Macedonian army also began to rotate to the right to block the cavalry on the right. Before Alexander's roundabout action began, he ordered Aristides to lead the cavalry to the other side of the Persian cavalry, which was desperately rounding the left wing of the horse army, to cooperate with Menidas and the light cavalry from both wings. Attack the left flank of the Persian army. The first ones to be threatened were Darius and his royal guards. Alexander led his troops to kill the Persian soldiers bravely. The guards charged directly at the Persian royal cavalry and stabbed their faces with spears (because the cavalry at that time did not have Saddles and stirrups, so the distance between the opponent's center of gravity and the target should be far away to avoid the spear's reaction force being too great and knocking the rider off his horse). At the same time, a Macedonian phalanx with a forest of spears was also charging towards them. Darius felt that everything was lost. The royal cavalry troops guarding him in front collapsed and kept retreating towards Darius's car. And his chariot could neither turn nor escape, because the piles of Persian corpses here not only hindered the movement of the chariot, but also almost covered the horses, causing the horses to jump violently, becoming increasingly difficult to control, and panicked. The grooms could no longer control them, so Darius fled, abandoning his army and fleeing from the Battle of Issus.
While Darius was escaping, the Persian left-wing cavalry, which was originally trying to roundabout the Macedonian army's flank, discovered that Aritis's cavalry troops appeared behind them. They were about to be attacked from two sides. Suddenly, the Persian left-wing formation was in chaos and began to retreat across the board. Alexander immediately ordered a pursuit.
On the right wing of the Macedonian army, the situation was completely different. Previously, due to the widening distance between the left and right wings, and Alexander's withdrawal of 4 infantry phalanxes as part of the assault group, a center appeared in the center. At this time, a group of Persian and Indian cavalry rushed out from the center of the Persian army and entered the Macedonian rear through this gap. However, they did not detour to the left or right, but went straight to the Macedonian supply camp and defeated them. After the Thracian infantry took control of the Macedonian army's baggage camp, they released the Persian soldiers captured by the Macedonians and robbed the Macedonian luggage and supplies. At the same time, the right wing of the Persian army had also detoured back to Commander Balminio. left wing side. However, since Alexander had already deployed a second line of troops on the left wing, they quickly turned back and launched a counterattack against the Persians who were looting the supply camp. The Persians did not expect the Macedonian army to appear from behind them and quickly retreated after suffering certain casualties. When Balminio, who was being attacked from the front and sides, found that he was in danger of being flanked, he ordered a messenger to notify Alexander on Pegasus to request reinforcements. His soldiers tried their best to resist the Persians' constant harassment. . Although the left wing of the Persian army had collapsed at this time, Machas on the right wing continued to attack because he had not received news of Darius's escape, and the situation was quite optimistic. So far, the Persian right wing had been victorious, and Balminio had already Being double-teamed, if nothing else happens, the Macedonian left wing will soon collapse.
Now let’s pay attention to the fate of the messenger. According to the author, there are only two theories. The first theory is: the messenger arrived in Alexander’s formation, and Alexander gave up immediately after learning about the danger on the left wing. They pursued and turned around to rescue Balminio. At this time, the main Persian cavalry in the center and right wing were retreating. After they discovered that Alexander appeared from the side and rear and cut off their retreat line, the morale of the army was in chaos. They attacked Alexander with all their strength. The two sides launched a battle. In the last hand-to-hand battle in the battle, the Persians went crazy. They attacked Alexander's defense line at all costs. In this battle, 60 of Alexander's cavalry guards died, including Menidas, Coras and Alexander's favored minister Hector. Festion was wounded, but they defeated the main Persian cavalry, and then the remaining Persian cavalry who besieged Balminio fled. The second theory: When the messenger arrived at Alexander's original location, Alexander had already gone to pursue Darius, so the messenger had to return in frustration, while Balminio relied on himself without support. The combat effectiveness of the Thesalian cavalry and the frustration of the Persians after learning of the battle repelled the enemy in one fell swoop. Alexander did not turn back after receiving Balminio's urgent message. The reason why he turned back was because he gave Darius to He lost the pursuit, and at the same time he happened to encounter the cavalry on the right wing of the Persian army that was retreating. Alexander fought with it again, and this was how he gained the final loss.
Of the two statements, I personally think the first one is more credible. Balminio's situation was indeed very dangerous at that time, otherwise he would not have asked Alexander for reinforcements as quickly as possible. It can be seen that Balminio It should be difficult for Austria to defeat the Persians so quickly relying on his own strength. At the same time, after Alexander lost Darius, he happened to meet the retreating Persian army. After defeating his opponent, why didn't he continue the pursuit and wait until the left wing troops met? He continued to pursue. Since he had not received Balminio's request for help, he had no reason to turn back. After turning back, he continued to pursue Darius, who had lost track of him.
In any case, the Persian right wing was eventually defeated. After relieving Balminio, Alexander continued to pursue Darius until dark. Afterwards, Alexander led his troops across the Lycas River and Let your men take a break. In the middle of the night, Alexander ordered his troops to march quickly to Abella, hoping to capture Darius there. However, Darius did not return to Abella or Babylon, but headed north into Armenia. Although the Persian Empire suffered a disastrous defeat, the emperor escaped pursuit and was ignominiously murdered by his own ministers shortly afterwards.
During the entire Battle of Gaugamela, the Persian army almost collapsed. Only some Bactrian cavalry and royal guards retreated north with Darius. The rest either died in battle or fled in all directions. The specific number of those killed in the battle is unknown. Alexander's army lost about 500 people, many were injured, and thousands of horses died due to fatigue or injuries.
The reason for the Persians' defeat is simple: Darius withdrew from the battle, while the left-wing cavalry suffered a fatal blow, and Alexander's victory was due to a huge hole in the center of the Persian army. The main reason for the appearance was that the Macedonian right wing resisted the Persian attack and forced the Persians to transfer the main force of the left wing. I personally think that there is no big problem with Darius's original plan. Outflanking on both sides is indeed a reasonable tactic, but the appearance of The problem is that the Persians failed to successfully round the flank of the Macedonian army, and did not seize the opportunity to defeat the Macedonian left-wing troops when the right-wing situation was good. If the Persian cavalry broke through from the center of the horse army and entered the rear of the horse army, they could move to the left Or detour to the right (I personally think that the effect of detouring to the left may be better, because the reserves of the Macedonian right wing have already formed a confrontation with the cavalry of the Persian army on the left, and Alexander is commanding the main cavalry to attack Persia where Darius is) Central position, under such a situation, if an enemy army appeared behind Alexander, it would be a big blow to morale and the actual situation), and Darius did not dispatch with the main force to directly command at the most critical location. The troops carried out their command intentions. Under the technical conditions of ancient times where information exchange was underdeveloped, Darius could not effectively control the troops in real time without participating in on-site command. Alexander did a better job in this regard. He participated in the main force In offensive operations at key locations, Alexander's personal command was very important when communications were backward at the time, because the commanders of each unit were likely to be unable to implement the commander's strategic thinking. If the commander's initiative and flexibility were poor, it would be very likely It will delay the fighter's opportunity, so the commander's real-time command is still very important. At the same time, Darius's escape was also a key to the battle. Let's not talk about his escape and rationality, but the commander's escape or death in ancient wars had a great psychological impact on the troops. In the battle of Changping, the commander-in-chief of Zhao Jun Zhao Kuo was killed during the breakout, and Zhao's soldiers collapsed immediately. We can imagine what would have happened if Darius did not escape but moved to other troops to continue commanding. Although the right wing of the Macedonian army defeated the opponent's left wing, the Macedonian army's own left wing was already difficult to parry. If the center If the Persian cavalry that breaks through can circle back, the Macedonian left wing will be surrounded on three sides and will probably collapse by then. In this way, the outcome of both sides is difficult to predict.
At the same time, there are two highlights in this battle. The first is the combat effectiveness of the Macedonian cavalry. The combat effectiveness of the Macedonian heavy cavalry is indeed much higher than that of the Persian cavalry (which is lacking in the Persian army system). The cavalry units on both wings withstood the Persian attack, which was several times their own, and the assault of the Guards Cavalry in the center was even more overwhelming. This was an advantage that the Persian army could not match. The second is the use of reserves. During the battle, Alexander arranged the Macedonian army on three fronts, with reserves on both left and right flanks. However, due to the relationship between lines and communication means, the reserves at that time had no way to command in real time and could only Preparation in advance for possible situations was the fundamental reason why there was no reserve force in the battle at that time. Alexander's arrangement directly led to the failure of the Persian cavalry's left-wing outflanking, and indirectly led to the subsequent collapse of the Persian army. It can be said that the use of reserves was another key to this battle.
The Battle of Gaugamela caused Darius to lose his country and fulfilled the long-cherished wish of Alexander and his father Philip. This battle was a battle that truly decided the fate of Persia and Macedonia. It was also the greatest battle in Alexander's life.
2 The weather is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the people
Since Yu is born, how can Liang be born?
3 The wind is rustling and the water is cold, and the strong man Once gone, never to return. (Historical Records)
The bright moon of the Qin Dynasty was at the Pass of the Han Dynasty, and the long march of thousands of miles was repaid by people. (Out of the fortress)
4 Zhuge Liang (181-234), courtesy name Kongming, nicknamed Mr. Wolong, was a native of Yangdu, Langya County (now Yinan County, Shandong Province). During the Three Kingdoms period, he was a minister of Shu and a famous politician, strategist and diplomat.
Due to his own wisdom and the exaggeration and publicity of the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhuge Liang became the embodiment of wisdom among the people. There is now a saying of "Zhuge Liang with the benefit of hindsight", which means being wise after the fact. Zhuge Liang also invented the Kongming Lantern and the handcart (a wooden cow and a horse). Zhuge Liang was born in Yangdu, Langya County in 181 AD. His family had a thousand stone. His mother Zhang passed away when he was 9 years old. When he was 12 years old, his father Zhuge Gui passed away. He was raised by his uncle Zhuge Xuan. When his uncle died in 197, Zhuge Liang and his younger brother Zhuge Jun moved to Longzhong, Nanyang County (now west of Xiangfan, Hubei). Although he worked hard to cultivate Longmu, he still had lofty ambitions, comparing himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi. Later, he became friends with Xu Shu, Cui Zhouping, Meng Gongwei, Shi Guangyuan, etc. and traveled to study together. He studied with Sima Hui, Pang Degong and other famous celebrities at that time, and married the daughter of the famous celebrity Huang Chengyan.
In 207 AD, Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage three times. Zhuge Liang told Liu Bei a plan to divide the world into three parts, which was the famous "Longzhong pair", and he immediately came out to assist Liu Bei. Later, Luo Guanzhong described this fact artistically, and it became a model of mutual respect between king and minister in feudal society.
Zhu