"Alexander's revolutionary practice of total pursuit and destruction of the defeated enemy ensured battle casualties unimaginable just a few decades earlier. At the Battle of Granicus, Alexander destroyed the Persian army outright, surrounded trapped Greek mercenaries and massacred them all - except 2 000 whom he sent back in chains to Macedon as a warning to other recalcitrant Greeks. Sources disagree over the precise casualty figures, but Alexander may have exterminated between 15 000 and 18 000 Greeks after the battle was essentially won - killing more Hellenes in a single day than the entire number that had fallen to the Persians at Marathon."
- Butcher of Macedon by Victor Davis Hanson
In order to create a powerful legacy, something innovating must be done and what Alexander did was both brilliant and disturbing. His tactics of total pursuit is comparable to that of trained dogs. The fear from the chase even after surrender was obviously a very formidable component of Alexander's success that also took a significant part of his reputation as a relentless killer. Therefore if Alexander hadn't made use of this tactic, I believe he wouldn't have come anywhere near to the level of success that he'd experienced on his renowned conquest.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments from individuals other than registered authors are most welcome. Your comments, however, are moderated by the site administrator. We reserve the right to reject comments we deem inappropriate or irrelevant. Thanks for your interest in The Great Conversation blogspot.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.