The Battle of Granicus

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The Battle of Granicus Alexander the great was not called the great for no reason. He was a powerful leader and amazing general. His abilities are shown not just though his personality but through his military tactics and battle logistics. The battle that takes this to all extremes and has a variety of aspects that can be focused on is the battle of Granicus. This battle shows not just how alexander won the battle but all the factors that helped him. The factors that are most outlined are Tactics, Weapons & Armor, Topography, Discipline and strategy. This was the first major battle that alexander faced and was his first true test as a leader and a general. Battle tactics on both sides of the battle played a major role in this battle. Alexander approached the place where they were to fight. One of the generals told him to wait until morning to fight but alexander attacked straight away. This tactic took the Persians by surprise and ruined their formation a bit. The battle started and there was a general advance. While the Persians were busy one of alexander’s cavalry attacked the left side of the Persian formation. The Persians could not defend themselves from this and the cavalry ploughed a huge hole through the Persian formation. On the Persian side of tactics they made very poor battle formations, which were easy to get through or destroy. Alexander’s phalanx formation proved to be the most useful through all his battles, this is because its tight formation is hard to get through but also easy to attack from. Another one of the factors influencing alexander’s win at the battle of Granicus is his troops weapons and amour and how it differentiated from the Persians. Alexander’s army was smaller but this enabled them to be able to afford better weapons and armor. Alexander’s use of pikes in the phalanx formation proved very useful in driving back
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