When it comes to the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries, whether it is China or foreign countries, there have been many great emperors. Every emperor has made great contributions to his country and people. But in the West, ancient Greece had an emperor, Alexander the Great, who was called the greatest king in human history. Why do you evaluate him that way? What did he really do to his homeland? Now follow in the footsteps of the editor to understand it.
In 356 BC, Alexander the Great was born in Pallah, the capital of the Macedonian kingdom (at this time the Macedonian kingdom was only a country on the Greek peninsula). This year is the 6th year of Qin Xiaogong, that is, the 66th year of the Shang Martingale Transformation Method. Alexander the Great's teacher was the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. In 340 BC, when his father Philip II crusaded against the Byzantine city-states, alexander the Great, 16, became the acting ruler of the Macedonian kingdom and suppressed a rebellion in the northern part of the macedonian kingdom that year. In that year, Qin Xiaogong worshiped Shang Martingale as Daliang zhao. In 338 BC, due to the defeat of his father Philip II in his conquest of the Byzantine city-states, the Athenian city-states and the Theban city-states of the Greek city-states formed an alliance against Macedonia. The two sides fought a battle that would determine the fate of Greece, the Battle of Caronia. Philip led the combined forces of Thessaly, Epirus, Aetoria, North Forks, and Rocris to fight a decisive battle with the combined forces of Athens and Thebes. Alexander the Great raided the gap between the combined athens and Thebes with his surprise army, and became the key to the Macedonian kingdom winning the battle. This battle established the dominance of the Kingdom of Macedonia in Greece. In that year, Qin Xiaogong died, Shang Martin died in battle, and King Huiwen of Qin took the throne.
In 336 BC, Philip II was assassinated by his bodyguard, Pausanias, while attending his daughter's wedding. Alexander the Great ascended the throne that year. That year was the second year of King Huiwen of Qin's reign, and Zhou Tianzi he Qin. If you take the 21-year-old crown of the King of Qin, King Huiwen of Qin and Alexander the Great were both 20 years old at that time and belonged to the same age. It's just that Alexander the Great has participated in a major war 2 years ago and is now in power, while King Huiwen of Qin has not yet personally ruled.
In 335 BC, Alexander the Great was again recognized as the legitimate ruler of the Greek city-states, and defeated Thrace, Tribaly, and Illyria in that year, consolidating the dominance of the Macedonian kingdom in Greece.
In 334 BC, Alexander the Great crossed the present-day Dardanelles with 40,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry, and began a conquest of the Persian Empire under the slogan of the Persian conspiracy to kill his father Philip II and liberate the city-states of Asia Minor. Due to the debts left by his father, Philip II, the treasury was empty, and Alexander the Great's army had only 30 days of supplies. In that year, King Xiang of Wei was crowned king.
The Battle of Granicus was Alexander the Great's first campaign to conquer Persia. Alexander the Great's army was 45,000 men. The opponent was the three governors of Persia, with a military strength of 20,000 Persian cavalry and 20,000 Greek mercenaries, for a total of 40,000 men. Despite being outnumbered, Alexander the Great was victorious. Three Persian governors were killed in the war.
In the autumn of 333 BC, Alexander the Great fought the second campaign to conquer Persia: the Battle of Issus. Alexander the Great's Macedonian legion was around 40,000 troops. The opponent was Darius III of the Persian Empire, with a force of about 120,000-130,000 men. The two sides fought a decisive battle at Issus (present-day north of Iskenderen, Turkey). Both sides of the battle were on an equal footing. Alexander the Great attracted the main force of the Persian legions with a central phalanx of heavily armored infantry; Use the right side of the force against the right side of the Persian army; In the course of the war, Alexander the Great, after successfully drawing the persian army's left army to the central phalanx of heavily armored infantry regiments, led his army directly to the Persian Emperor Darius III.
Despite the sudden arrival of the Macedonian legions, Darius III's Guards fought bravely. But the horses of Darius III's carriage were frightened and dragged Darius III into battle. Fearing that he would be captured alive by the Macedonians, Darius had to take off his robe and escape on horseback.
Darius' escape became a key factor in the defeat of the Persian legions. Darius III fled, and so did his Janissaries, leading to the collapse of the Persian legions. According to historians, the Macedonian legions lost 1,200 casualties in the battle, while the Persian legions lost at least 20,000 or more—most of them trampled to death during the collapse. At that time, King Huiwen of Qin believed that Gongsun Yan, the head of the rhinoceros, was a great liangzao.
After winning the battle, Alexander the Great did not pursue Darius III, but advanced south along the Mediterranean Sea, finally entering Egypt and establishing the city of Alexandria. Here, Alexander the Great is known as the Pharaoh, the son of the sun god Amun. This is 332 BC. In 331 BC, Alexander the Great fought his third campaign against Persia: the Battle of Gaugamela. Having won two wars against the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great had more money to recruit more soldiers to join. But compared to the legions of the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great's Macedonian legions were too small.
The Macedonian Corps had 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry, for a total of 47,000 men. The number of Persian legions, the most original statement is one million, but most later historians believe that the actual number was 200,000 infantry, 45,000 cavalry, a total of 245,000 people. Darius III made peace with Alexander the Great three times before the war, and even offered the terms of peace by ceding half of persia. But was rejected by Alexander the Great. Upon learning of Alexander the Great's refusal to negotiate peace, Darius III cried out, "Alexander, what unforgivable sin have I committed against you?" Is it true that any of your relatives were killed by me, and therefore deserve such punishment for my atrocities?"
In the early morning of September 30 of that year, the Macedonian army and the Persian army began a decisive battle. A 47,000-man battle against 245,000 began. The Persian legions formed a huge battle formation of 8 kilometers long. But until the whole time, Alexander the Great had not figured out how to win.
Darius' strategy was: the Central Army against the Macedonian Central Army, surrounded the left and right sides of Macedonia, and rushed into the Macedonian camp to rescue his mother and children. Alexander the Great's strategy was to strengthen the defense of the left and right rear three sides, fight to the death in the front, and look for the weaknesses of the Persian corps to break through. In this battle, the Macedonian legion fought extremely hard, with Persians in the front and on the left and right sides, and finally the Persians rushed into the Macedonian camp.
Just when the Morale of the Macedonian Legion was very low, the accompanying priest Aristand jumped on a horse and shouted along the Macedonian Front in triumph: "Look at that circling eagle, this is a sign of Macedonian victory!". It was this sentence that boosted the morale of the Macedonian legion and retake the Macedonian battalion.
Unlike the fierce fighting on the left and right, the Macedonian corps in the front had not yet engaged the Persian corps. This is also the reason why later historians are confused: why Darius did not order persian soldiers to attack the front. The soldiers of the Persian Legion continued to rush to the right side of the Macedonian Corps, causing a gap between the left and center of the Persian Legion, weakening Darius III's defenses. Alexander the Great seized the opportunity and led the Macedonian legions in the front to attack the weakness in a wedge shape, directly attacking Darius III's Janissaries. Soon the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III began again. Both sides were killed in the eye. Alexander and Darius III were about thirty meters apart from each other. Both attempted to shoot each other with javelins, but both failed.
But the god of luck was on Alexander the Great's side. Alexander the Great's javelin killed Darius III's coachman. The Persian soldiers on the left, because of the dust of the battlefield, saw in the haze that someone on the emperor's carriage had been killed by a javelin, and mistakenly thought that Darius III had been killed, so there was a cry, and the Persian legion on the left inexplicably collapsed, and then the Persian central legion also began to collapse. Darius III watched the legion collapse and tried to commit suicide, but was stopped by his subordinates and had to flee.
When the left and center armies collapsed, the Persian corps on the right almost won the macedonian defense line. General Parminho of the Macedonian defensive line had to ask Alexander the Great for reinforcements. Alexander the Great had to abandon the pursuit of Darius III and return to reinforce the right side. As a result, the Macedonian corps on the right side, which was in a hurry to reinforce, met with a Persian corps that had sneaked into the Macedonian barracks: one was anxious to go back, the other was anxious to support, so the two sides engaged in the fiercest battle of the battle. Finally the Persian legions took the road and fled.
When Alexander the Great reached the right line, the Persian legion on the right had already learned of the retreat of the left and central legions and began to retreat. In this battle, the Macedonian legions killed 500 people and suffered countless wounded. The Persian legions killed at least 40,000 men – again, most of them on the run. After winning the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire and entered Babylon, the center of the Persian Empire.
Alexander the Great continued his march into the Eastern Provinces of Persia, continuing his journey of Persian conquest, mainly Aktria and Sogdiana. Persian officers, fearing that Darius III would surrender to Alexander the Great, assassinated him. After that, Alexander the Great did not encounter any more large-scale battles.
In 326 BC, after conquering the entire Persian Empire, Alexander the Great did not stop the conquest, but marched south to India, and fought his last battle with the Indian king Bolas: the Battle of the Heydas Pest River. Alexander the Great decided to cross the Heydas Pest River and conquer India. King Bolas of India decided to gather his forces and defeat Alexander the Great at the river while he was crossing the river. Faced with Boras's tight defenses on the opposite riverbank, Alexander the Great confused Boras by constantly mobilizing soldiers and horses and crossing the river without hurrying. When Alexander the Great felt that he was crossing the river, he himself led an army to cross the river, and the remaining main force was given to Clatras to lead, and ordered Clatras to cross the river only when he saw Boras leading his troops to attack him.
Alexander the Great immediately crossed the river and engaged the troops of Boras's son. Boras's son was killed in battle. When Bolas heard the news, the Macedonian legions on the opposite bank began to cross the river. Bolas hesitated, but finally felt that he was leading 4,000 cavalry, 300 chariots, 200 elephants, and 30,000 infantry, intending to fight a decisive battle with Alexander the Great.
Alexander the Great first shot at the positions of Indian infantry and cavalry with bows and arrows, and then personally led the cavalry to disrupt the Indian cavalry and infantry subordinates, while the rest of the Macedonian forces mainly shot Indian elephants and disturbed the Indian legions. Under the strategy of Alexander the Great, Boras's subordinates were destroyed, the Indian legions were in chaos, and elephants trampled everywhere regardless of enemies and friends. Clatras, who finally crossed the river, led another part of the Macedonian legion to replace alexander the Great's army and hunt down the Indian army.
Throughout the campaign, the Macedonian Legion killed 80 infantry and 230 cavalry, for a total of 310 men; The Indian Legion killed 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, as well as Bolas's two sons and officers of various commands, totaling more than 26,000 people. After victory at the Battle of the Heydas pesters, Alexander the Great had to return to Persia as the Greeks were tired of conquest.
In June 323 BC, Alexander the Great, at the age of 33, died of illness. That year was the second year of the reign of King Wen of Qin. Alexander the Great and King Qin Huiwen were born in the same year and took the throne at the same age (Alexander the Great ascended the throne at the age of 20, King Qin Huiwen took the throne at the age of 19), and in just 13 years, Alexander the Great had built a huge empire, and King Qin Huiwen had only just become king. If Alexander the Great had lived longer, we would have had the opportunity to see a duel between the Macedonian Kingdom's Heavily Armored Corps and the Great Qin Imperial Army!