I predict some debate about who are the greatest Generals in all of known history
my 1st is Alexander the Great who which used tactics to beat the numerous Persian armies and ended up conquering the whole Persian empire. He cared for his men and after returning from India his water ran out of and of water and i remember reading a passage i will suffer along with my men he threw his own supply of water into the sand and meanwhile he did get back. but ended up with disease and died because of his battle wounds to fight it.
my 2nd is General Giap of the Vietcong forces, you have never heard about this great General he had fought 3 wars and won all of them. 1st he drove the chinese out of Indochina, 2nd he annihilated the French Army in Vietnam and 3rd He drove out the Superpower that had never lost a single war, The United States of America. He learned guerrila warfare from Mao (Chinese Leader) and used attrition and attacked the US army where it hurted the most. He is one of the distingushed Vietnamese generals and tactician in history.Four-star General Vo Nguyen Giap led Vietnam's armies from their inception, in the 1940s, up to the moment of their triumphant entrance into Saigon in 1975.
Possessing one of the finest military minds of this century and even the whole of history, his strategy for vanquishing superior opponents was not to simply outmaneuver them in the field but to undermine their resolve by inflicting demoralizing political defeats with his bold tactics.
This was evidenced as early as 1944, when Giap sent his minuscule force against French outpost in Indochina. The moment he chose to attack was Christmas Eve. More devastatingly, in 1944 at a place called Dien Bien Phu, Giap lured the overconfident French into a turning point battle and won a stunning victory with brilliant deployments. Always he showed a great talent for approaching his enemy's strengths as if they were exploitable weaknesses.
Nearly a quarter of a century later, in 1968 the General launched a major surprize offensive against American and South Vietnamese forces on the eve of the lunar New Year celebrations. Province capitals throughout the country were seized, garrisons simultaneously attacked and, perhaps most shockingly, in Saigon the U.S. Embassy waas invaded. The cost in North Vietnamese casualties was tremendous but the gambit produced a pivotal media disaster for the White House and the presidency of Lyndon Johnson. Giap's strategy toppled the American commander in chief. It turned the tide of the war and sealed the General's fame as the dominant military genius of the 20th Century's second half and one of the brilliant strategic minds in whole history even outwits Mcarthur or Eisenhower or George Marshall.
3rd in my view is Hannibal who crushed the Roman armies one by one on his campaign to Rome. Even though outnumbered in some battles he managed to beat the might Romans and their legions.
4th in view Napoleon Bonaparte.......the Great French General who won many battles and outwited his opponents using the French Guard and the mighty cavalry commanded by his right hand General Ney. He defeated the mighty Austrian Empire and even though retreated from Russia and the defeat of his last battle of Waterloo he still ranks high on the greatest generals in history.
5th One of my favorites of generals are Patton and Rommel two great tank commanders who fought each other in Operation Torch in Africa during WWII. First rommel was known for his tactics in the desert and was nicknamed as the Desert Fox and also Rommel is known for the defense of the coastline of Northern France. For Patton calling upon the iron will and discipline he had instilled in his troops, Patton disengaged elements of the 3rd Army and hurled them northward into the worst winter to descend upon Europe in years. He did this in an attempt to hit the Germans in the flank and relieve Bastogne. Everyone outside the 3rd Army had felt this feat was impossible, but this was where the willingness of the 3rd Army to perform the impossible for their leader paid off. By 5 February 1945, the 3rd Army was back on the offensive all along the Saar front as Patton drove into Germany. Patton's oft-quoted dictum, "Grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the ass" was in full play. His tactic was to hit the Germans in the front lines and then drive into their flanks and rear with his armoured units. In so doing, his troops succeeded in cutting off entire German divisions during this advance. Hundreds of thousands of German troops were taken prisoner.
5th was Eisenhower who masterminded the D-day invasion which succeeded but costed many lives from many nations. But in the end it proved Germany was not invincible at all.
6th was Macarthur which he was the Pacific Commanding Officer in the Pacific Theatre in WWII and the Korean War. What got me was the general's view of politics and insubordination and how Truman got him fired.......
7th was Caesar who over came the odds and conquered the Gaul and the rest of the empire. Unluckily he was killed by fellow senators because of his "power" but it lead to a monarchy which lasted about 400 more years.
Anyway any more.....feel free to add the list.
