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Describe a Battle

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  Quote TheodoreFelix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Describe a Battle
    Posted: 13-Jun-2005 at 16:15

Murad was horrified at the victory. he though the Turks would have a sure victory. They didnt, they were slaughtered. Thats what horrified him. How would you feel if you suddenly lost 20k of your army in 4 hours? And Vulkan was right. After the defeat Murad himself came and sieges Kruja. but failed to capture it and went home on his way he died. Mehmet then took the seat and sieged it two more times(once before constantinople), failing to capture it again and again. , learn your history....

Finally in 1478 the castle surrendered, not fell, all historians make specific mentions that Mehmed's army could not break the castle's defenses(a few K of soldiers) but instead starved it out. The people within the castle eventually gave up under the conditions by Mehmed that nobody would be harmed. Universally, all historians mention that this condition was not met...



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  Quote Murtaza Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Jun-2005 at 16:33

Iskender Bey ALBO

It is realy difficult to learn all our history I am sure you will understand this.

 

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  Quote TheodoreFelix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Jun-2005 at 16:36
Not really, there are plenty of books and one will do.
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  Quote Murtaza Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Jun-2005 at 17:27

I think he was realy a Albanian Hero. He was realy stubborn.

(It is mainly accepted in Turkey, Albanians are stubborn)

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  Quote TheodoreFelix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Jun-2005 at 17:34

Thats nonsense and I wont hear anymore of it....

 



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  Quote vulkan02 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Jun-2005 at 11:11

here's some more relevant maps... and yes albanians are stubborn

1. map in 1401

2. map in 1464

 



Edited by Yiannis
The beginning of a revolution is in reality the end of a belief - Le Bon
Destroy first and construction will look after itself - Mao
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  Quote vulkan02 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Jun-2005 at 11:11
The beginning of a revolution is in reality the end of a belief - Le Bon
Destroy first and construction will look after itself - Mao
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  Quote Lannes Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19-Jun-2005 at 21:42

Battle of Paraitacene

Background:  317 BC.  Antigonus has begun his expansion.  Moves towards Persia to confront Eumenes.

Antigonus's Army:  28, 000 heavy infantry; 10, 600 cavalry (3, 700 heavy); 65 elephants; and an unspecified number of light infantry.  His lineup:  The left wing comprises of nearly 7, 000 light cavalry and some supporting light infantry  (specifically, from farthest left heading right:  Median/Parthian mounted lancers and archers, Tarentine cavalry, a Phrygian and Lydian cavalry force, another force of Median cavalry, the Lysanias, and the Asthippoi);  the center consists of the 28, 000 heavy infantry with 35 elephants and some light infantry in front (the heavy infantry going from left to right:  Mercenaries farthest left, small force of Lycians and Pamphylians, a large unit of mixed race, and the Makedonian infantry to the far right); the right wing consists of the 3, 700 heavy cavalry, the remaining 30 elephants, and a force of light infantry (from left to the right end of the battle line:  force of mercenary cavalrymen, larger force of Thracian cavalry, Greek cavalry, and the Companions under Antigonus's son, Demetrios.  To the right of the Companions, there is an interesting setup of light infantry and cavalry which is flanked on the right by an oblique line of elephants.  I'll describe the aforementioned light infantry/heavy cavalry setup from front to back:  three ilai [150] of slave cavalry, 300-strong cavalry force led by Antigonus himself, another three ilai of slave cavalry, and a force of 100 Tarentine cavalry to the rear).

Eumenes's Army:  6, 000 cavalry; 85+ elephants; 17, 000 heavy infantry; and in excess of 10, 000 light infantry.  His lineup:  He has 3, 000 heavy cavalry with 6, 000 light infantry and 45 elephants on his left wing (from farthest left heading right towards the center:  Elephants and light infantry support the flank, to their right are two ilai[100] of lancers with Eudamus's Agema behind it, heading right is a force of Areian and Drangianan cavalry, next is the Mesopotamian and Arbelitian cavalry, then Arachosian cavalry, then the Paropanisadian cavalry force, and to the farthest right is a force of Thracian cavalry); his ceneter has the 17, 000 heavy infantry with 40 elephants and another large force of light infantry in front (the heavy infantry from left to right:  Mercenaries on far right, unit of mixed race, Argyraspid infantry force is next, and farthest right are the Hypaspists);  the right wing has around 3, 000 cavalry with part of the elephant force (extending from the center) and a large force of light infantry in front (the cavalry from left to right:  Carmanian cavalry, to its right are the Companions, continuing right is an agema of cavalry [300], to its right is an agema led by Eumenes with a 300-strong force of specially selected cavalry behind it and a force of slave cavalry in front of it, and farthest right is another small force of picked cavalry).

The Battle:  Antigonus intends to advance in an oblique line(refusing the left) so that his force of 3, 700 heavy cavalry on thr right can use their numerical advantage over Eumenes's left.  However, the commander of Antigonus's large light cavalry force on the left, Pithon, decides to engage anyway.  Eumenes decides to bring some cavalry from his left over to his right to launch a counterattack on Pithon, and, after some initial success, Pithon is routed.  When the two center forces of heavy infantry met, Eumenes's force routed the Antigonid infantry.  Meanwhile, on the Antigonid right, Antigonus takes advanatge of the gap created by the advance of Eumenes's center, and attacks Eumenes's isolated left.  Antigonus routes the isolated force.  Thus, Eumenes has to regather his pursuing center and right to regroup.  Likewise, Antigonus regathers his fleeing army.  However, Eumenes's army refused to restart the battle and march back to camp.  So, Antigonus marches back onto the empty battlefield and claims victory.

Note:  I haven't proofread this yet, making the chance for errors high.  Corrections are welcomed.



Edited by Lannes
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  Quote King_Cyrus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-Sep-2005 at 14:36

 

Cyrus the Great takes Babylon

It is said that Babylon was a huge fortress city with walls surounding it completly.  These walls were made out of hard oven backed bricks.  Cyrus the Great after invading northern area of the Babylonian empire set forth on the almost impossible task of taking the Capital. 

It is well known that Cyrus had help from a old Elamite leader who served under Nebuchandnezer 2nd who was responsible for much of the defenses of Babylon.  This old Elamite told Cyrus that he should not risk a attempt to seige the city seeing that most of his troops would be killed in the attempt.

So Cyrus concocted a brilliant plan.  The Eufraties river flowed through Babylon going under its Walls and trough the city.  Altough at first it seemed like to much trouble to send his troops under the wall seeing that water level was too high it would be to difficult to send troops.  Yet this did not stop Cyrus, he mearly found a way around this problem.  Miles away form the walls of Babylon Cyrus's Army dug several man made lakes and at night fall diverted the waters of the Eufaraties into these lakes.

That night most of Babylon was celibrating some sort of religious occasion.  When the level of the river flowing into the city was substantially lowered due to Cyrus's man made lakes some of Cyrus's soldiers entered the city under cover of night and stormed and captured the palace.  Belchazzar the King of Babylons son was killed because he choose to fight the troops rather then surrender. 

Seeing that their palace was taken and the King had retreated the city the soldiers of Babylon choose not to fight the army of Cyrus.  Latter the gates were opened letting the rest of Cyrus's army and himself in.

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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Sep-2005 at 03:01

I dont know Scender Beg was A Muslim or not but I know that he took military education when he was younger in stanbul.After that he went to Albania and started rebellion.He was a good commander.

 

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  Quote Hannibal Barca Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Sep-2005 at 11:17
The Battle of Cannae

Cannae.......one of those names that will live forever in military history. Hannibal's tactic of "double envelopment" became the main tactic used by the German Offensive in 1914, the Schlieffen Plan. His tactic was actually quite simple, yet it was a deadly weapon that made the fields of Cannae stained with blood.

For the background of the battle.............

Now, during this time Rome had a fairly peculiar system for having Commanders. Besides switching commanders in the midst of war, they had two commanders that would take turns of command each day. This, as you will come to see later, played a heavily significant role in this great battle. The Roman Commanders of the Army art this time were C. Terentius Varro and L. Aemelius Paullus. On the day before Cannae Hannibal had readied his troops and stationed them along the river wanting to do battle A.S.A.P. yet Aemelius was using General Fabius Maximus' theory of not attcking at all and simply wear him down. That day, Hannibal sent Numidian Cavalry to harrass the Roman Camp to lure them out just like at Trebia. The soldiers were now hungry for battle, yet Aemelius stayed smart and did not move his troops. The next day, Varro was in command and he was ready for battle.He led his army out of both camps that were set up( one larger on the right of the river and a smaller one on the left side just behind where the battle was fought. When his army halted they faced south with the river to their right. Here is an outline of how the force was set up:

Romans:
To the far right Varro set up the Roman cavalry led by Aemelius. To the left of the cavalry, Varro stationed the infantry which was commanded by two Proconsul snamed Serrvilius and Atilius. To the left of them he commanded the allied cavalry. To top it all off was a screen of lighly armed troops in the front.

Carthaginians:
Hannibal has set up his army in somewhat a similar state, but he has placed the different nationalites within his army according to how well they could fight. The weakest Celts and Spaniards were placed in the center directly acroos from the Roman foot. Flanking them on both sides are heavily armed African infantry which now has armor and weapons of the Romans from the previous battles. Now say we are facing the Carthaginians as the Roman army. Hannibal has set up on the left flank the Numidian cavalry under the brilliant cavalry commander Maharbal. On the right flank is the celtic and Spanish cavalry under direction of Hasdrubal, which directly faces Aemelius and the Roman Cavalry. In the front is a screen of probably Baleiric slingers and/or pikemen. Hannibal and his brother Mago command the center soldiers.

With all this said here is the number of troops for each side:
Rome: 86,000
Carthage: 50,000

Now having his troops in a straight line, Hannibal uses a quite unusual maneuver where the Spanish and Celtic infantry formed a crescent. This was to make the African Heavy Infantry a reserve force and to use the Spanish and Celts for the beginning, which woul be a major factor in his plan.

For the Battle......

It begins with the skirmishers on both sides meeting each other. In this skirmish Aemelius is wounded. After the skirmishers have used up all their missiles they retreat through gaps in the ranks. The real battle is about to begin. The roman legionare foot advances on the Celtish and Spanish infantry crescent. They hit the crescent with maximum force and soon the white tunics of the Spanish run red with blood. They cannot stand up to the massive force and are crushed and driven slowly back. The crescent begins to cave inwards as the legionares fight their way deeper and deeper into the Celtish and Spanish ranks. The celts and Spaniards are now wedged in between the Heavy African Infantry. This is very good! Time for Hannibal's plan to come into effect.Both flanks of African Infantry turned to face the enemies flanks. The Romans were now caught between both divisions. Now the Roman legionares could not keep their compact formations, they had to turn and fight the enemy that was engulfing their flanks. This was the tactic of "double envelopment" and it was now slowly crushing the mass roman infantry force to death. Meanwhile on the Carthaginian left wing, Hasdrubal has killed off or driven away Aemelius and his Roman cavalry. Hasdrubal now turns to help the Numidian Cavalry under Maharbal who are currently in a stalemate with the Roman allied cavalry. The allied cavalry now saw Hasdrubal's force coming to crush them, instead of facing imminent death they fled the field of battle. With this in hand, Hasdrubal turns and attacks the Romans from behind. The legionares are now fully surrounded. They were doomed. 70,000 roman soldiers of the 86,000 were killed at Cannae versus 6000 Carthaginians. It was a slaughter in which a total of about 76-80,000 men were killed. This battle could have decided the fate of Rome, yet Hannibal id not exploit his victory and attck Rome itself. After the battle, Maharbal said to Hannibal "You know how to conquer Hannibal; but you do not know how to make use of you victory."

-source: Leonard Cottrels book Hannibal: Enemy of Rome

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  Quote Hannibal Barca Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25-Sep-2005 at 23:53

The Battle of Arbela(Guagamela)

Alright. Lets now take a look at the significance of Guagamela and how the battle actually played out.

First lets take a little look at what has happened in his campaign. He has now established himself as a force to be reckoned with. He shows himself to Darius now as a brilliant general and marvelous and courageous leader. "He has established Greek control over Asia Minor, he has defeated Darius' army at the Battle of Issus, and now has secured the eastern Mediterranean coast." In so doing Alexander has taken control of all of Darius' harbors, therefore making Darius' navy useless.

He continues his campaign and conquers Egypt where is is in fact named Pharaoh. Alexander now had all the personal moral in the world. He was now claimed to be the sun of Amun-Ra or in the Greek belief Amun was equivalent to Zeus. Not beating around the bush any longer, Alexander believed he was immortal and could not be defeated.
In 331 b.c.e. he picked up his campaign of Persia once again and set out to defeat or really attempt to absolutely annihilate Darius and his Persian army.

Now every battle begins in the strategy and this is what Darius had been doing while Alexander was preoccupied with Egypt. Darius had been preparing another army and a strategy in which he would lure Alexander into battle and let his vast superior numbers engulf Alexander and destroy him. Darius stationed his army on the left bank of the Tigris River on a very large open plain some 70 miles west of Arbela hoping that Alexander would see him and engage in battle. Well, Alexander did just that.

As the Macedonian army reached the hills overlooking the plain on which Darius stood, Alexander and his generals decided their plan of attack. Most generals were in favor of an immediate attack, but the shrewd Parmenion advised Alexander to rest the army and reconnoiter the plain. Afterwards Alexander called a meeting in which he told his generals that this battle would decide the fate of all Asia. Parmenion suggested that Alexander make a night attack on Darius. Alexander simply stated "I will not steal my victory." Alexander knew that conducting a large scale battle in the dark was near impossible. Although he had many veterans he knew that fighting in dark would create a panic that could cause the doom of his army.

Darius now knew that Alexander was near at hand and he drew up his battle formation. The Persians numbers are greatly disputed. Arrian says 40,000 cavalry, 1,000,000 infantry, and 200 scythed chariots, and 15 elephants. Diodorus claims 200,000 cavalry, 800,000 infantry, and 200 scythed chariots. The most reasonable is Curtius' account, which he states 45,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, and 200 scythed chariots. No matter which account is right, numerically it considerably was greater than that of Alexander's. Fuller states though that "in cavalry- well trained and valiant horsemen- it must have surpassed that of Alexander; but in effective infantry it was at a discount, because its only hoplites were 2,000 Greek mercenaries and the royal body-guard, presumably 2000 strong. In short, Darius' army was not very stable.

Darius' strategy revolved around his superior numbers. He hoped to envelop Alexander based on his longer line of soldiers. His cavalry wings would play the most crucial role. Fuller states that the army was set up into two lines. The forward line was of mostly cavalry while the second( rear) line was of mostly, if not entirely, infantry. Darius commanded the Persian center, his general Bessus commanded the left wing and his general Mazaeus commanded the right wing. On the left wing there was Bactrian cavalry, the Dahae, Arachosian, Persian( also infantry) and Susian horsmen, and finally the Cadusian. In front of these troops  there 1,000 Scythian cataphracts with 1,000 Bactrian cavalry, and 100 chariots. Under Darius there was the Royal Foot-Guard, the Persian Horse-Guard, the Greek mercenaries, which Darius split into two divisions( each consisting of about 1,000 men), the Indian and Carian cavalry, and Mardian archers. In front of this center was 50 chariots and 15 elephants. Finally, on the right wing stood Coelo-Syrian cavalry, Mesopotamian, Median, Parthian, Sacian, Tapurian and Hyrcanain horsemen, and Albanian and Sacesinian cavalry. In front of this wing were 50 chariots and some Cappadocian and Armenian cavalry.

On the night before the battle, Darius feared what Parmenion had suggested to Alexander; a night attack. Darius made his men stay at arms the entire night making them very fatigued in the morning; obviously the attack never came.

The Macedonian strength was extremely smaller. Arrian gives a very accurate statement at 7,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. Now Fuller makes an excellent explanation that Arrian has a weakness at telling readers what the commander's strategical and tactical aims were for the battle. Fuller gives us just that. Fuller points out that Alexander had to look at the fact that the Persian line was much longer than his. In fact, both wings were overlapped. Also, Alexander could not "rest his flanks on an unturnable obstacle- no sea no mountains." The second fact was that the Persian front was dominantly cavalry. This meant that it was an offensive front. When the Persian cavalry moved forward, the infantry in the rear would be unable to establish a defensive front. This meant that there would be a number of gaps open to attack.

Now Fuller gives us Alexander's strategy in using these facts to defeat the enemy. He would first have to set up a defensive formation. His flanks would have to be extremely defended because the phalanx center was powerful in the front yet weak on the flanks. He would have to maintain this defensive stance until a gap opened up. This second step was to "advance in oblique order with his right leading." This hopefully would throw the Persian line out of order. The right wing would be drawn toward the Macedonian left and put the Persian right rear in jeopardy if the Persian left was penetrated. In order for this to be successful neither could flank could be enveloped. The third and final step was when the two flanks had drawn in the Persian cavalry and had them thoroughly engaged, Alexander and his Companion Cavalry would punch through one of the open holes. Pretty much Alexander was basing his strategy on not being enveloped and penetrating through the Persian lines.

Now to talk about the Macedonian formation, in which Fuller gives excellent information. The Phalanx was drawn up in the center. Fuller gives us the information that it was made up of Coenus' battalion, then Perdicass', then Meleager's, Polyperchon, Amyntas(which, as a sidenote, was commanded by Simmias), and then Craterus. The right battalions were to coordinate with the right cavalry under Alexander while the two left battalions coordinated with those of Parmenion. The right cavalry wing flanked the Phalanx. This was made up of companion cavalry commanded by Philotas with the Royal Squadron, commanded by Cleitus in the front. In the rear were the squadrons commanded by Glaucias, Ariston, Sopolis, Heraclides, Demetrius, Meleager, and Hegelochus. The hypaspists were to the left of the companions under Nicanor. Then in the front on the entire wing was half of Attalus' Agrianians, half of the Macedonian archers, which were commanded by Briso, and then Balacrus' javelin warriors. The left cavalry wing was on the left of Craterus. There was the Allied Greek cavalry under Erigyius, and and then the Thessalian cavalry under Phillip. In front of the Thessalians was the Cretan archers under Clearchus and the Achean mercenary infantry. "The Pharsalian horse, the elite and strongest squadron of the Thessalians, was detailed to act as Parmenions body-guard." The right flank guard was toward the front of the RS and consisted of Greek mercenary cavalry under Menidas. In the rear was Aretes' lancers, Ariston's Paeonian cavalry, the more of the Agrianians and archers, and finally Cleander's mercenary cavalry. The left flank guard consisted of Thracian light horse under Sitalces, Allied Greek cavalry under Coeranus, the Odrysian cavalry, under Agathon, and the Greek mercenary cavalry under Andromachus. There was a rear phalanx placed behind the center in case of envelopment.

For the Battle.....

Alexander led his army toward the Persians. When he saw how greatly the Persian line outflanked him and that his right wing was facing the Persian center, he "inclined" his advance more and more to the right, so that he could bring that wing opposite the Persian left flank. While this moved Parmenion's wing closer to the Persian center, this move made Darius "side step his line of battle towards his left, and head off his opponent he sent out a body of Scythian horse, but apparently, it was brushed aside, because we are told that Alexander's continued march towards his right, and almost entirely got beyond the ground which had been cleared and levelled by the Persians." Darius, in reaction, ordered Bessus, with the troops in advance of the wing, to wheel around Alexander's right and stop it. Seeign this action, Alexander ordered Menidas and his mercenary cavalry to charge Bessus. Menidas was driven back due to the superior numbers of troops. Alexander then ordered Ariston to charge the Scythians, who began to give way as a result. Bessus brought forward the Nactrians of his left wing, who reinforced the Scythians before they had fled the field. Now, as the Scythians were reinforced, the battle was swaying towards the Persians. But the Macedonians were able to stand up and fall on the attackers and break their formation.

Darius wanted to take advantage of the Scythians minor success, so he advanced his left wing chariots on the right of the Macedonian phalanx. hoping to create great confusion. This hope was not fulfilled as the chariots were barraged with javelins as they neared. Many were dragged out of their chariots while the ones who got through caused little damage as the Macedonians simply opened their ranks and let the "grooms in the rear to overpower them."

Bessus was wheeling around Alexander's right flank guard to attack its rear. In response Alexander sent Aretes to fall on Bessus' rear. Now Darius saw that Alexander had engaged his last mobile reserve force. He thought that Bessus was succeeding in his mission. so he decided to launch two massive enveloping acts. Darius sent out all or most of his remaining cavalry on both his flanks with the objective of crushing Parmenion on the right and Alexander on the left. Now a major mistake happened in this action as all of the Persian left wing went to reinforce Bessus. Here the gap that Alexander had been waithing for opened. Forming a wedge, Alexander led his cavalry straight through the gap towards Darius. Soon the MAcedonian phalanx made an attack also which filled Darius with so much terror that he fled the field.

Now to discuss Parmenion's flank.....

Well, like Bessus, Mazaeus charged the flank with a brave body of cavalry with orders to envelop them. He then ordered 2,000 Cadusian  horse, and 1,000 Scythians to wheel around the Macedonian wing and "break in upon the trenches that defended their carriages...." This meant that Mazaeus sent a contingent to ride to the Macedonian camp to rescue the Persian royal family. This also was used to compel Parmenion to detach troops that would race to protect the camp. Alexander ordered Parmenion to simply fight and not worry about the raiders.

The phalanx center.....

On the right, the four battalions were advancing rapidly, yet the two battalions on the left were held up by Mazaeus which resulted in a gap developing between Polyperchon's left and Simmias' right. Here Indian and Persian cvalry charged through the gap toward the "baggage" of the Macedonians. These were mostly men who were unarmed, because they never would have thought that the Persians would have pushed that far through the lines( the Persians pushed through the front and rear phalanx). Now the rear phalanx turned round and attacked the persian rear, who had broken through the lines. Now why did the cavalry go for the baggage line instead of attacking the Phalanx rear after making it through both phalanxes? It was Darius' order for the Persians to rescue the ryal family so that gives a just explanation as any.

Now that the Indians and Persian cavalry had broken through the Macedonian lines Parmenion was in a plight. He sent a messenger to Alexander seeking aid. Alexander, who was attepting to pursue Darius wheeled his Companions round and attacked the Persian right wing under Mazeaus. Now this isn't true. Alexander probably had already wheeled his Companions around to deal with the Persian left wing and the Scytho-Bactrians that had opened the battle. After aefeating the Persian left wing was when he probably recieved the message. He now charged through the gap between his right flank guard and th advancing phalanx to aid the struggling Parmenion. He collided with the retiring forces of horsemen which were the Indian and Persian cavalry. Here many of the Persian cavalry killed Companions and broke through into full retreat. Alexander continued on to attack the right wing. These men were already taking flight seeing as though their entire army had routed except for them. Now Alexander took up the chase for Darius with his companions and the Thessalian cavalry. At the same time Parmenion pushed his men forward toward the Persian camp at Arbela(Guagamela).

Now the battle to decide the fate of Asia was over. Arrian states that 300,000 Persians were killed, while only 100 men were killed but 1,000 horse lay dead. Diodorus states that 90,000 Persians perished with less than 500 Macedonians dead. Curtius states that 40,000 Persians perished with the Macedonian dead being less than 300. Anyway it was an outstanding and descisive victory for Alexander which gave him control of Asia Minor.

 

 



Edited by Hannibal Barca
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  Quote Janissary Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2005 at 18:55

The Battle of STALINGRAD

chemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />>>

  

AUGUST 1942: Hitlers huge Sixth Army reached the city that bore Stalins name. In the five-month siege that followed, the Soviets fought to hold Stalingrad at any cost; this battle for the ruins of a city cost more than a million lives. This battle was not only the psychological turning point of World War II; it also changed the face of warfare.

 >>

MOLOTOV-RIBBENTROP PACT: Signed by German foreign minister Joachim Ribbentrop and  USSR foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov on August 23 1939. They worked under Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Both countries agreed to remain neutral and refrain from act of aggression against each other if either went to war. West Poland had to be occupied by Germans, and East by Soviets. Stalin also got a right to invade countries with the same border with USSR (such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Finland, Northern Iran etc.).

 >>

BARBAROSSA: The idea of inevitable conflict with Soviet Union, Hitler had expressed in his MEIN KAMPF in July 1940. Barbarossa was a plan of invading Soviet Union. 3 Groups had to be sent to Russia:

1)      Army Group North Leeb

2)      Army Group Center Bock

3)      Army Group South Rundstedt:

42 divisions including 5 panzer and 3 motorized

6th ARMY (Stulpnagel)>>

Panzer Group I (Kleist)>>

Romanian 3rd army

Luftwaffe

Luftflotte IV

The 3rd Group was participated in Stalingrad battle.

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             BEFORE ATTACK: In June 1940, with the pact of Molotov-Ribbentrop, Stalin Invaded Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania (It was bad for Germans because the mail oil bases of Europe was in South of Romania) and wanted to invade Finland but lost many soldiers and the battle. In order to his condition Stalin attacked Japan army, which was in Mongolia and prepared to invade North China-Manjuria. On July 21 Hitler ordered Field Marshal Walther von Brauchtisch, to begin Barbarossa, which would last 5 months. On December 18, Hitler signed Fuhrer Directive NO: 21 subtitled Operation Barbarossa. The First starting date was May 15.

             GERMAN ARMY: Obberkomando des Heeres (OKH)-The German army high command assigned 148 divisions including 19 panzer divisions. Total personal strength was 3,500,000 men, 3350 tanks (Tiger/ Panzer/ Panther), 7184 artillery (88 and etc.), 600,000 motor vehicles and 625,000 horses, 2500 aircraft (Luftwaffe-FW-190-wulf  (BMW 18 cylinder engine-speed 700 km/h)/ HE-109/ ME-109-fighters, Stuka -bomber) + 500,000 men + 14 Romanian divisions (about 250,000 men). The German infantry was armed with Schmeisser a hand machine gun for every soldier, and the FK-72 mounted machine gun, and M-712 Mauser pistol.

             SOVIET ARMY: 203 divisions +46 motorized brigades (33 divisions and 5 brigades were in the Far East)-Total 2,500,000 men, about 10,000 tanks (which included the best tank of the war, the T-34, though these tanks were few in number) + T-70/ Katyusha/ ZIS-30 (defense)/ SU-76i), aircrafts like I-15 bis-1937/ YAK-1b, IL2, P-39q and etc.

             THE BATTLE: Stalingrad was the ultimate goal of the Sixth Army, led by Colonel-General Friedrich Paulus, and the Fourth Panzer Army, under Colonel-General Hermann Hoth, as they pushed southeastward in June and early July. And, but for the Fuhrer's interference, it might have been taken without a fight. By detaching Goth's armor and sending it south to the Caucasus, Hitler let slip the opportunity to enter the city before the Soviets could organize its defense.
   A fortnight later, Hitler ordered the Fourth Panzer Army to turn northeast and drive again for Stalingrad. But he had lost his chance, and, by 9 August, Hoth was halted by lack of supplies i6okm/ioomls from the city. In the meantime, Paulus's Sixth Army had fought its way across the River Don and, on 23 August, was on the right bank of the Volga north of Stalingrad and moving into the suburbs. While opposition from the Russian Sixty-second and Sixty-fourth Armies in Stalingrad stiffened, Paulus gained control of the gap between the Don and the Volga, established air and supply bases there and, on 2 September, made contact with Hoth.
   Despite several days of heavy fighting and many bombing raids, the Russians, under Lieutenant-General Vassal Chuikov, clung on to the battered city. The German Army High Command, concerned about the inadequacy of the forces supposedly protecting the Sixth Army's left flank along the Don, advised withdrawal from Stalingrad to consolidate the line and prevent any chance of Pauluss was being cut off by an enemy breakthrough. Instead Hitler transferred units from the weak Don sector to the Sixth Army and ordered it to capture the city.
   Backed by bombers of Luftflotte 4, German infantry and armor commenced a mass assault through the fast-crumbling streets. The Russians in fierce close-quarter fighting, from house to house, cellar to cellar, and even through the sewers contested every meter of the way; this determination was to characterize the prolonged and bloody struggle. The infantry dominated the battle because mountains of rubble made it difficult for tanks to operate effectively. After a week of intense fighting, the Germans managed to reach the city center. A few days later, Paulus's troops fought their way into the industrial sector in the north also, but on 29 September Chuikov threw them out.
   Regrouped, reinforced and supported by tanks and dive-bombers, the Germans tried again on 14 October and for ten days hammered at the Russian defenses. Though the Russians were at first greatly outnumbered and obliged to give ground, they were able to ferry fresh troops and much-needed supplies across the wide Volga under cover of darkness.
   By 24 October, the Sixth Army had fought itself to a standstill in the north of Stalingrad without ejecting its stubborn enemy. Not much was now left of this city, which had once housed nearly half a million people. Hitler had deprived the Russians of its industrial out south-north communications been severed because a railway the Volga was still operating had degenerated into a conflict of egos: Stalin insisted on holding the city named after him; Hitler wanted to seize it for its symbolism and propaganda value. Germans prepared to launch in the southern district.
   Then came news, which obliged Hitler to send reinforcements south, 5 November, Rommel had been defeated at El Alamein and on the 8th, the Allies had landed in Morocco and Algeria, threatening the Axis forces in a dangerous pincer grip. This setback came as a bonus for Marshal Georgi Zhukov, who had been preparing a Russian counter-offensive against the Germans in the south. Having secretly built up vast reserves, he was poised to unleash them with the arrival of Russia's traditional ally: winter.
   On 19 November, a massive Russian attack surprised and overran the Romanian Third Army northwest of Stalingrad, exposing the left flank of the Sixth Army as the German generals had foreseen in the summer. Twenty-four hours later, i6okm/ioomls to the south, the Soviets routed a mixed German and Romanian force guarding Paulus's other flank; the two Russian assault groups joined up within four days. General Paulus and his Sixth Army, comprising 200,000 fighting men and some 70,000 non-combatants, were cut off.
   The Army High Command begged Hitler to permit the Sixth Army to make a break westward while the Russian ring was still not firmly established. But the Luftwaffe chief, Herman Goering, although he had absolutely no foundation for doing so, claimed his aircraft could fly in 500 tons of supplies a day to the surrounded Sixth Army, sufficient to keep it going as a fighting force. Hitler grabbed at this offer of a lifeline to Paulus and on 24 November ordered him to fortify his positions and await a relief column.
   Three days later Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was placed at the head of a hodge-podge of units, Army Group Don, arid briefed to relieve Stalingrad. He was not, however, to create a situation, which would allow Paulus to withdraw; he was to go in and stabilize the German front line in the beleaguered city. Manstein set out on his unenviable mission on 12 December and arrived 48km/30mls outside Stalingrad on the 21st. Knowing that the Russians were closing in on him and that he would be unable to hold his advanced position for long, Manstein took it upon himself to order Paulus to break out and link up with him before it was too late. But Paulus decided that in the absence of a direct order from Hitler to evacuate Stalingrad he must stay where he was.
   The relieving force fell back, fighting, and the last tragic phase of the Battle of Stalingrad began for the doomed Sixth Army. Squeezed in an ever-tightening vice by the surrounding Russian armies, deprived of proper clothing to withstand sub-zero temperatures and running low on all essentials due to the inadequacy of Goering's promised daily airlift, Paulus's rapidly dwindling command continued its grim struggle. At the end of December, when Paulus saw that some of his starving men were reduced to devouring raw horse brains, he flew out a personal emissary to give the Fuhrer a first-hand account of the deplorable condition of the Sixth Army. Hitler merely ordered him to hold out.
   On 8 January, Lieutenant-General Konstantin Rokossovsky issued an ultimatum to Paulus, but he refused to surrender, and two days later the Soviets commenced a full-scale assault on his positions. As the enemy closed around his exhausted and dispirited troops, Paulus radioed to Hitler that his situation was hopeless. In testimony given after the war, Paulus said the Fuhrer replied, 'Capitulation is impossible. The Sixth Army will do its historic duty at Stalingrad until the last man...'.
   The end was not long in coming. By 25 January the Russians had overrun the last German airfield, preventing any supplies getting in and ending mercy flights out of the sick and wounded. Over the radio, which was the survivors' only link with the outside world, news came on 31 January that Hitler had been pleased to promote Colonel-General Paulus to Field Marshal. Later that day, the Sixth Army made its final broadcast, announcing the arrival of the enemy outside the headquarters command post.
   The new Field Marshal, himself exhausted, had been obliged to surrender most of what remained of his command to General Mikhail Shumilov of the Soviet Sixty-fourth Army. Two days later, the German 2nd Corps, which had been holding out in pockets in the north of the stricken city, also capitulated. As nearly a million men marched off to harsh captivity (from which it is estimate as 5,000 returned after the war), Hitler raved about the disaster and threatened to court-martial Paulus. Ultimately, however, he accepted responsibility for the sacrifice of the Sixth Army. Nearly 150,000 Germans had died - three times as many as the Russians admitted they lost all Paulus's guns, motor vehicles and equipment had been captured and the Luftwaffe had lost 500 transport aircraft.>>

             RESAULT: The German Army, though far from being a broken force in early 1943, never recovered from the loss of an entire army, on top of casualties in excess of a million already sustained on the Eastern Front. All its great blitzkrieg victories were behind it. Hitler had overstretched Germany before the full might of the Allies be able to be assembled against him, and he would pay the price for such folly.
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