Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Blademaster
With Xerxes, I don't think that's a fair analogy because it wasn't really on a battlefield. It was on a narrow pass, very confining. Still, Xerxes made a lot of mistake with the cavarly that I wouldn't do.
|
Since when was war ever fair? You backstab, take advantage, cheat, lie, steal, and do everything you can to beat your opponent. Those who speak of past battles and say "oh, but it wasn't really fair" are either romantic idiots or have no clue as to what true war is.
It's easy to say "Xerxes made a lot of mistakes with the cavalry that I wouldn't do" when you live 2,000 years later with hindsight. If your're going to look at Military History as a path of study, one should try "getting into their shoes" so to speak.
Xerxes made his decisions based on his military scouts, strategy that he learned, and the paradigm of Persian warfare. Cavalry, while apart of the Persian military, was never the full directive of its fielding. The Persians were more likely to either form Chariot companies or massive groups of archers.
At Thermopalye, Xerxes could have just as easily halted a portion of his army to distract the Spartans and move for another pass with his army (which he did in a way by splitting his large force before hand); but Xerxes was a man of pride, ruler of the largest empire, a man who controlled the lives of perhaps millions. For him to do anything other than advance would be seen as a falter in this Great King's ability. Not to mention that Xerxes underestimated the Spartans.
If I was faced with a force,using a pass like Thermopalye for the sight of confrontation, and I had a much significantly larger force, I would do something very simple: engage the enemy non-stop. If troops get tired, simply pull them back and let fresh troops enter the fray. An enemy whom you outnumber can tire in closed courters, 300+ Spartans could only hold off for so long, but the Persians evidently halted for periods of a time between attacks. That was a mistake, but since those who fought it are now nothing more than memory, it is hardly useful to point our their flaws other than to keep ones self from repeating them.