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(...I'm not a westerner :wiseguy: )
Zhuge Liang didn't collect over a hundred thousand arrows from Cao Cao too, and Liu Bei never threatened him to do it. One of the biggest misconceptions came from Guan Yu's achievements:
-He didn't pass seven gates
-Didn't kill Wen Chuo
-Didn't slay Yan Liang in a duel
-Most certainly did not kill Hua Xiong, Sun Jian was the hero of Si Shui.
I could go on all day about this.
Some favorite battles (some for the tactics, some for sheer unexpectedness, some for the extremely high casualties and ascribed or real historical importance):
- Gaugamela
- Cannae
- Carrhae
- Teutoburg forest
- Stirling bridge
- Kawagoe
- Kłuszyn
- Breitenfeld
- Plassey
- Borodino
- Singapore
- Stalingrad
- D Day beaches
Alright, to counterweigh the number of Roman battles:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
thinking of western equvilents don't anyone think Cao Cao is like Gaius Marius in some way?
Stalingard and D Day beaches. played both on call of duty.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodion Romanovich
Hi everyone, its been a while since I wrote on this point. Last time I made a fairly innocuous statement concerning Hannibal and brought down a world of trouble on my head. I think i need to clarify my reasoning:
At Zama, Scipio Africanus beat Hannibal, therefore Scipio is the equal of Hannibal. Nonsense, at Zama, Hannibal had inferior cavalry and equal numbers of infantry, only 1/3 of whom were veterans, and he nearly won.
Also, people seem to question whether he could have taken Rome. That is one of history's imponderables. For what its worth, he didn't have siege engines or a fleet with which to supply them (Hannibal Barca? sold it off), and he was down to around 20-30000 men, around half of whom were Gaulish mercs. Even if he took Rome he couldn't have held it. Thats why the battles against his brothers on Spain/Northern Italy were vital as they rendered Hannibal essentially hopeless.
I have to agree with Crazyguy, theres no way of knowing whether Hannibal could have conquered Rome because he didn't try!
At Zama everybody knocks him for losing. Yes in terms of numbers it was a stronger force than he had in Italy. But training and, more importantly experiance were lacking. He had more elephants, but again the Elephants were ill-trained and Scipio was ready for them.
This is not designed to detract from Scipio's acheivements. He was a great general himself. But some of his tactics were taken from Hannibal himself, according to some books I've read. (Please correct me if I'm wrong).
Now that we're located in the monastry am I alright to bring up Assaye (circa 1803)?
You're right, Scipio Africanus was practically a student of Hannibal's tactics himself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaius Scribonius Curio
How was Carthage ruled like, it's a bit confusing for me. are they ruled by an assembly, like the Senate. a king, or an emperor.
While I'm far from an expert I believe Carthage was ruled by an Assembly in a manner of the Greek city-states.
Within the assembly the Barca's, of which Hannibal was the 'next' patriarch, were a pre-eminent family and held much sway. However, the assembly (for whatever reason) denied Hannibal the supplies needed after Cannae and missed their oppurtunity, securing their own downfall.
Had they sent reinforcements to Hannibal, there probably wouldn't be a Rome.
The Barcas weren't the only family with a faction though. An assembly isn't a dictatorship. Perhaps political rivals/ jealous other factions (why do it when its already been done?) were behind the lack of support?Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyGuy
Isn't it a bit like the Roman Senate?
Kalka River and Legnica
Mohi
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fahad I
What about Dong Zhuo? Didn't he torch the capital city and retreat? Or am I thinking of someone else??
Yeah, he burned the capital, Luo Yang, and changed the imperial capital to Chang An. That was one of the biggest mistakes ever.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kansas Bear
The Chinese seems to love fire attacks, as demonstrated in the Battle of Yiling and the Battle of Chi Bi. does anyone know if the same method is used ever in the West?
.....I think it's fair to label this as a common tactic, I believe it was known throughout the whole world a long time ago.