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Originally posted by Dave Briggs
" Alexander is still my main man.

And I agree with you there...

though I have always been fond of Nimitz...

The Japanese were pretty much defeated 6 months after Pearl...



-V

the greatest one:

Wulf Isebrand


He fought succesfully with his Ditmarschner Kingdom vs Denmark, Schweden and a large partion of the Northern german kingdoms and won.

Hannibal - elephants over the Alps

Wellington - Waterloo

Sheridan - not Lee

von Rundstedt - did just as a good job of turning the German Army around after Cobra as von Manstein did post Stalingrad.

Wellington. Just read 1815 The Waterloo Campaign, the German Victory by Peter Hofschroer and you will see him in a different light. Without Blucher he would have been beaten by Napoleon.

Captain B. H. Liddell Hart. It was his books that advanced the ideas of 'Blitzkreig' that the German Generals were reading in the 1930s.

If we are looking at naval commanders, then

Maarten Harperstzn. Tromp and
Michiel de Ruijter

have definitely their place in the galery of the Great.
Maarten Tromp made several innovations in (the application of) naval battle tactics. And was relatively popular with his crews.
Michiel de Ruijter was absolutely loved by his crews and was as masterful as Tromp in the control of his fleets and in choosing when and where to engage. He even picked up the english flagship from a major english naval base (Chattam).

On a side note, the experiences of these two admirals were the reason for the establishment of the worlds oldest marine corps. The Dutch marine corps was founded in 1665 . And copied throughout the world.

Horatio Nelson?
Scipio Africanus, the man who whipped Hanibal like a red-headed step-child?
George Washington?
Che Guevara? He beat all of Bautistas forces with some of his friends and a yacht.
I know Adolf was a prick, but he changed everything and managed to smack a lot of people around on the way.
McArthur actually proved to be an able statesman and run the enemies country. That seems great in its own way.
My head would explode if I tried seriously to answer this question, but I loved reading everyone's responses.

Quote
"Examine the Tyre campaign. He could not use his phalanx
there. It stretched out for almost two years."

LOL, I guess not since Tyre was on an island, about a half mile from the coast. It also took that long cause he had to build a mole all the way to the island. It was'nt cause he could'nt use his Phalanx there. Look at any siege, sheesh. It just takes time.

Quote
"When they reached India, the magnates there were not afraid
of him. They didnt know who he was. He got a MUCH tougher fight in even the minor skirmishes."

Thats right, and he ALWAYS won, even in a tough fight. Look at how he defeated King Porus' at the battle of Hydaspes. First, he could'nt cross cause it was in the rainy season, and the river was way flooded. So he took 13,000 men with him 17 miles up stream till he found a place to cross. After smashing a reconnoiting force of 2,000 men with 120 chariots, which included Porus' son, he met up with Porus' main force. Without going into detail, Alexander defeated a tough foe, who had 40,000 troops with Elephants and chariots, whose line stretched to about three or four miles, and did it with only him and 13,000 troops.

Also, you have to remember, by the time he did fight the tougher battles, alot of his troops were men taken from defeated foes, and added to his own army. But he always got the best of his men, whether Greek or Persian or Indian.

Quote
"I am not saying that Alex was a dumbass, he wasnt.
But it helps to have a machine that works, when the enemy doesnt."

Thats right, and it was Alexander who made the machine work the way it did.

Yes, Alexander WAS the Greatest of them all. So great even the bible prophesied about him. 'Nuff said.

Interesting read.

What about Tshaka Zulu?

Built up from a village or two into the only? (non-colonial) empire south of the equator in Africa. Developed great tactics. Mind you, he also had a decent wingman or two, some of whom scarpered with a chunk of the zulus to create other "empires" - like the ndebele and shangaan.

Also Ghenghis Khan, as mentioned.

Who would agree that the mongol empire should rank up there with other great long-standing empires like Rome and the Chinese dynasties?

Originally posted by WarBuddy
Yes, Alexander WAS the Greatest of them all. So great even the bible prophesied about him.

The holy book of Warfare?


Just agreeing.

Who was the greatest Military Leader of all time?

Oh that's easy, davewolf.

No wait maybe its wulfir.

No scratch that its definitely davewolf.

Yes, I'm quite sure its davewolf.

Though wulfir is quite good.....

Where are you gonna hide, after I'll have conquered the world?

:p

Somewhere in the general vicinity of biohazard I should think.

Don't bet on him. He's my favourite French salesman.

If the aim of war is to achieve the stated objectives, then all the talk of tactical vs strategic is moot.
Lee was a loved commander, so what??, buller was also loved by his troops and look what he did to them!!.
Giap never gets the press he deserves because after being a US ally and being trained by the US he promptly turned around and bit them.
The big Mac, ran away to fight another day.
In terms of how they affected history, then here are my contributions
Marlborough - changed the face of europe.
Gustavus Adolphus - likewise
Nelson - likewise
Ghengis Khan - likewise
Attila - likewise
alexander - reshaped the wolrd.

remember that europe was the world for these men.

im appalled that noone has mentioned oliver north or col klink

my vote would go for alexander the great....

his tactics and victories were a product of his intuitive grasp of logistics ("an army fights on its stomach" - not sure, "amatuers discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics" - napolean)

id also have to mention all of those in beatposse's post


hard to deny conquering the known world


-jedimessiah

Originally posted by CCB


Oh that's easy, davewolf.

No wait maybe its wulfir.

No scratch that its definitely davewolf.

Yes, I'm quite sure its davewolf.

Though wulfir is quite good.....

Hey CCB, Darth Vader is the Military Leader above all the other clowns.

You of all people should know that..

Originally posted by wulfir
Hey CCB, Darth Vader is the Military Leader above all the other clowns.

You've forgotten one above him...



"The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."
D.V.

Sir John Monash, WW1, First AIF, Western Front.

Admiral Thrawn was a far better leader and he didn't even have a magical power to aid in his intimidation of his own subordinates.

On a more serious note, Otto Von Bismark is often considered
the greatest.