Portraits of 10 military genius generals who changed the world order. Please refer to the list of the best generals in the world that Khoahoc.tv has compiled below.
War is part of history. Many see it as a deadly disaster, but war is also the birthplace of heroes – commanders who change the world.
Let’s learn and discover the life of some famous generals in history.
Most of us know that, during his 12 year reign, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) led the Macedonian empire (336 – 323 BC), conquering almost the entire world territory. at that time.
Alexander’s greatness was evident from his birth. The Emperor of Macedonia was born crying on a Friday in June, just as the temple of Artemis in Ephesus burned down. Many legends say that he was the son of a snake god, and ancient prophets predicted that he would have a future “invincible”.
From a young age, Alexander was famous for the courage of a lion.
The facts proved the correctness of that prophecy. During his reign, Alexander the Great often led his army to conquer and almost invincible, most notably the campaign to conquer the Persian empire – the first campaign in the life of the 20-year-old emperor. .
Portrait of Alexander leading his army to conquer Persia is embroidered on a tapestry.
The battle that most demonstrated Alexander the Great’s military prowess was the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC when he fought the Achaemenid emperor Darius III – then ruling Persia.
According to ancient historical sources, it is estimated that more than 40,000 Macedonian troops defeated tens of thousands of Persian troops. During the battle, Alexander observed very closely, recognized the mistakes of the Persian army to adjust the attack strategy. Finally, Alexander forced the enemy’s commander Darius III to flee, the army was scattered and scattered.
Alexander’s sculpture of the great victory over Gaugamela.
After the battle, Alexander’s army lost only a few hundred men, compared with nearly 40,000 Persian soldiers. Just three years after the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander unified Persia.
Among the Asian heroes, Genghis Khan (1162-1227) is considered the most talented and aggressive. During his reign, from the unification of the Mongol tribes, he led his country to expand its territory from Asia to Europe.
Statue of Genghis Khan majestic, majestic.
His military talent is something that researchers appreciate very much. Genghis Khan organized his army into groups according to the base of 10 (decades, centaurs, heavenly protectors, ten thousand households) and consisted mainly of light cavalry who were very good at archery. This organization allowed his corps to attack massively, easily encircle and lead the enemy into an ambush.
On the other hand, Genghis Khan was also a master of the art of psychological warfare. Before attacking enemy strongholds, he often announced threats to cause confusion, if the enemy did not accept him, he would attack and destroy the entire city. However, he would then deliberately release a few survivors to spread fear to the next stronghold.
Genghis Khan’s light cavalry was far superior to the heavy, slow European cavalry
The military philosophy that Genghis Khan followed all his life was how to win the enemy quickly, with the least damage thanks to the psychological warfare and the strength and flexibility of the cavalry.
Genghis Khan was a master of the art of psychological warfare.
In particular, in battles, even if the opponent runs away, Genghis Khan will not give up. He ordered his army to chase, kill until sure the enemy was dead.
It will not be wrong that many people consider the modern period to be the period of the French emperor – Napoleon (1769-1821) . The whole world feared and admired him for his military talent and genius leadership.
People call Napoleon the god of war, because he created lightning victories and unpredictable use of troops. And the most ideal is probably the extraordinary deeds that no general dares to do.
Emperor Napoleon.
One of the victories that clearly showed that talent of Napoleon was the battle of the Three Emperors – Austerlitz in 1805. The reason for this name is because of the large scale of the battle, with the participation of three emperors. of the European powers: Napoleon of France, Franz II of Austria and Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
Napoleon and his marshals are discussing tactics to fight the enemy
Along with talented field marshals such as Lannes, Ney, Davout, Murat… Napoleon successfully commanded 73,000 French troops, winning over 80,000 Austro-Russian alliance troops in 1805.
Many documents record that Napoleon personally went to battle to assess the situation, judge the enemy’s intentions and quietly ordered artillery, increased firepower to capture points, and provided good support for the battle. He also made good use of the terrain, firing cannons into the frozen lake and drowning thousands of enemy troops in the cold.
Hanibal Barca – whose resounding victories weakened the Roman Empire.
Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca (247 BC – 183 BC), was a Carthaginian general and military tactician. The word “Hannibal” means “joy of Baal” (the Carthaginian god), and his family name “Barca” means “lightning”.
Hannibal lived during times of turmoil in the Mediterranean, when the Roman Republic established supremacy over major powers such as Carthage, the Kingdom of Macedonia, Syracuse, and the Kingdom of Seleucids. Hannibal was the most famous Carthaginian general. His most notable achievement was that at the outbreak of the Second Punic War, Hannibal led an army, including war elephants, from Iberia through the Pyrenees and Alps into northern Italy.
This legendary general with fewer and weaker forces than the Roman Empire, but conducted unprecedented operations from Cathegne (modern-day Spain) directly against Rome, with resounding victories that devastated Rome. weakened the Roman Empire to its roots, although later Rome countered and had to resort to Hanniban’s strategy of sending troops straight to Cathegne, causing Hanniban to lose the battle to commit suicide, but since then the Roman Empire has declined. could no longer get up.
Julius Cesar – the conqueror of almost all of Europe at that time.
General of the Roman Empire, who conquered almost all of Europe at that time, occupied both Egypt and Babylon. Those are the 3 typical generals of the Ancient period.
Hung Dao Dai Vuong – Tran Quoc Tuan.
People often call it Tran Hung Dao, a famous Vietnamese national hero who defeated the invincible army of Genghis Khan’s descendants.
Those are two prominent and typical generals of the Middle Ages.
Oliver Cromwell is a British general.
As a famous British general, famous in history with an iron flank army that defeated Stewart’s royal army in the English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century, beheaded English King Charles I (1649), later became Bao Ho Cong, Consul of Great Britain.
Mikhaiin Cutudop – who stopped Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.
The famous Russian general, defeated Napoleon, stopped Napoleon’s invasion of Russia (1812), then led the Austro-Prussian coalition to attack Paris to completely overthrow Napoleon’s domination. Along with Suvuop, he is honored by history as the master of the art of mountain marching.
George Zukop – winner of the golden table for strategic direction.
Among many famous generals in World War II, Marshal GK Zhukov was ranked first in the number of victories and large scale, occupying the gold table for his talent in campaigning and strategy.
The late General Vo Nguyen Giap (1911 – 2013) was known as the number 1 master of guerrilla warfare. Foreign press and media called him “Napoleon of Vietnam”.
Vo Nguyen Giap did not go through a regular military school, but he became Vietnam’s first ” 5-star general ” when he was only 37 years old.
Portrait of the late General Vo Nguyen Giap – the hero of the Vietnamese nation.
The difference of General Giap that few generals in the world can do is the respect and esteem of the defeated generals under him. General De Castries’ defeat against General Giap in the Dien Bien Phu campaign had to admit: “I am honored to be General Giap’s opponent, to be the direct defeat of such a talented man as General Giap. I admire and respect him.”
During a meeting with former US Secretary of Defense – Robert McNamara in 1997, General Chester Cooper of the US side expressed his admiration for the late Vietnamese General: “Sir, I admired you 20 years ago. I’m still impressed now.” And even a former American soldier who fought in Vietnam, James G. Zumwalt had to exclaim: “I can only say that he is the greatest general of the greatest generation of Vietnam. “.
General Vo Nguyen Giap – the master of guerilla warfare in the world
With his strategic talent, he successfully commanded the Dien Bien Phu campaign, destroyed the “impenetrable fortress” of France, organized the legendary Ho Chi Minh campaign, and officially regained independence for the people. our tribe.
Also from here, the nickname “Napoleon of Vietnam” began to appear. The reason why many people call him that is because General Giap’s military use has many similarities with the French emperor.
He led campaigns that seemed impossible to win, making decisions that perhaps no general would dare to make. In particular, General Giap was very good at organizing and arranging guerrilla battles to take more or less enemies.
Typically in the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954, right at the time of shooting, he ordered to withdraw all troops and artillery from their positions, delay the time of attack, change from “fighting quickly and winning quickly” to “fighting firmly” , make sure.”
General Giap and leaders agreed on the plan to attack Dien Bien Phu in 1954
During the resistance war against the US, the late General ordered the opening of the Ho Chi Minh Trail – the lifeline, extremely important and bringing about the overall victory for our nation.