Alexander the Great marched his men for several years as he expanded the great empire of Macedonia (Greece). During his travels he heard about India and how beautiful it was but he also heard that no one had beaten their army. This was exactly the kind of thing he liked to hear because it was a challenge and quite frankly a lot of places Alexander went didn't even put up a fight out of fear due to his reputation which included crucifying thousands of enemy soldiers. He showed mercy to those places who didn't fight.
As his men approached India a large army was waiting. They were in shock because they saw something they had never seen before and that is the entire front line of the Indian army had soldiers sitting on top of huge creatures (elephants). These men also had extremely long spears and shields so it looked like it would be practically impossible to get to them. This was the reason no one had beaten the Indian army because the elephants would charge the enemy and crush them while the soldiers on top would use their spears to help kill the rest.
Alexander assessed the situation and told his men not to charge the enemy straight on but instead to keep darting from side to side and when the elephant got close shift to one side and attack it. He told all his men to not worry about the soldiers on top but to take their fight to the elephants. The strategy worked as the elephants began coming down with their riders who were then killed. The elephants who hadn't gotten killed yet freaked out and ran away from Alexander's army crushing Indian soldiers in the process. So as with every battle that Alexander was in, he won.
After this battle Alexander's soldiers became so livid about something he did that they demanded to go home and he had to give in to them because they were going to leave with or without him. Do you know what he did? He was so impressed with their people that he gave them their kingdom back. Here the soldiers lost friends in the battle and it was all for nothing. I love world history!
As his men approached India a large army was waiting. They were in shock because they saw something they had never seen before and that is the entire front line of the Indian army had soldiers sitting on top of huge creatures (elephants). These men also had extremely long spears and shields so it looked like it would be practically impossible to get to them. This was the reason no one had beaten the Indian army because the elephants would charge the enemy and crush them while the soldiers on top would use their spears to help kill the rest.
Alexander assessed the situation and told his men not to charge the enemy straight on but instead to keep darting from side to side and when the elephant got close shift to one side and attack it. He told all his men to not worry about the soldiers on top but to take their fight to the elephants. The strategy worked as the elephants began coming down with their riders who were then killed. The elephants who hadn't gotten killed yet freaked out and ran away from Alexander's army crushing Indian soldiers in the process. So as with every battle that Alexander was in, he won.
After this battle Alexander's soldiers became so livid about something he did that they demanded to go home and he had to give in to them because they were going to leave with or without him. Do you know what he did? He was so impressed with their people that he gave them their kingdom back. Here the soldiers lost friends in the battle and it was all for nothing. I love world history!
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