YTread Logo
YTread Logo

7 Infanterieformationen, die die Schlachtfelder ihrer Zeit dominierten

Mar 16, 2024
Throughout history, various quadrangular or square infantry formations have dominated the world's battlefields, from the Macedonian fahrland that contributed greatly to the success of Alexander the Great, to the schilddron as a decisive factor in the War of Independence of Scotland, passing through the Spanish third of the war. machine that helped the Habsburgs in Europe This formation shaped the war of its time. In this video we look at selected examples, discuss some of the core features of this formation and of course also take a look at some of its most famous battles: The All of this is intended to be an entertaining overview and not an in-depth analysis of information.
7 infanterieformationen die die schlachtfelder ihrer zeit dominierten
More detailed. We link to the individual formations on the information cards at the top right, so let's get started right away. The first formation we are talking about is, of course, the ancient Greek fahrlands. She is best known for her role during the conquests of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. The fahrlands were one of the pillars of their military success and played a decisive role in several famous battles, such as that of Iron Er in Granicos and that of Gaugamela near Gaugamela in 331 BC. C., Alexander faced a numerically superior Persian army under the command of Dareos III, who defeated Macedonia;
7 infanterieformationen die die schlachtfelder ihrer zeit dominierten

More Interesting Facts About,

7 infanterieformationen die die schlachtfelder ihrer zeit dominierten...

The Persians, drawing most of the cavalry from their left flank to the side, defeated part of them and blocked the rest there. This created a gap in the middle through which Alexander could force his way to attack the Persian center directly. The Battle of Gaugamela is considered the decisive one against the Old Persian Empire, which Alexander then completely conquered, the rest Emerging about 300 years earlier, around the 7th century BC, it was the standard formation of armies throughout Greece and was made up of soldiers heavily armed infantry, the so-called hoplites, who had to carry weapons and equipment with them.
7 infanterieformationen die die schlachtfelder ihrer zeit dominierten
They were lined up in close rows so that they formed a shield in which each man covered the right side of the man next to him with his shield. The main weapon of the main favorites was long spears, but they also carried such and other swords. short weapons that were very long, generally 8 cigars deep, while their width depended on the number of men available in the battle. The desires marched towards the enemy and tried to drive them away, the objective was to alter the enemy's order of battle because if this He had a decisive advantage; in addition to falling into disarray, he generally suffered great losses and there was a great danger of men fleeing for protection.
7 infanterieformationen die die schlachtfelder ihrer zeit dominierten
Of course, they all tried to place their uncovered right side behind the shield of the man next to them as best they could, that's why they had a tendency to turn to the right and if so, two of those formations fighting could even rotate. counterclockwise, which was far from ideal for obvious reasons and the distribution of elite fighters within the formation exacerbated the problem. Traditionally, more experienced fighters stood on the right wing so that there was balance during the fight against Fahrlands, the strong right wing fighting against the opponent's weak left wing. Whoever was able to win the fight first on the right wing usually This problem of the early Greek fahrlands was solved by the generals of Thebes in the 5th and early 4th centuries BC.
C. First, the right wing was deepened to 25 ranks, so that the weaker side of the enemy came under even more pressure. A little later, at the Battle of Leuttra, the famous general Epaminon made sure that his troops were in the so-called skewed order of battle. One of the most important tactical developments in ancient Greece changed the traditional order by placing its best men on the left. wing and deepening it to the 50th ranks. When his men faced the Spartans at Leuker, the elites of the two armies clashed. Epam went to the left of him The next reform of the fahrlands was carried out by the Macedonian king Philip II.
He equipped his men with the famous sarissa, a 5 meter long spear and a light shield from the Macedonian lands. They were 16 rows deep and were arranged in such a way that from the second to the fifth row, torn apart, they reached to the first line that the men further back held. Although initially the demand was made up almost exclusively of Greek and Macedonian fighters, from the 3rd century BC. Macedonian rulers also increasingly turned to mercenaries. According to the historian Leonhard Burkhardt, the Macedonian country had 2 decisive weaknesses: firstly, it was difficult when it stood up it had to move on uneven ground and secondly the formation was not suitable for hand-to-hand combat the long weapons that They made the formation strong at the beginning of a fight, were very unwieldy and completely useless once the enemy got behind the points, these weaknesses became evident at the Battle of Hübner 168 BC.
C. in which the Macedonian demands under King Perseus faced the Roman army under the experienced general Lukios Amelius Paulus, both armies of the world were in a traditional form. Formation with demands or legions in the middle, additional infantry on the sides and cavalry on the wings. The battle began in the afternoon, at first the Romans had difficulty dealing with the long tears of their enemies and the Macedonians advanced further and further against the Roman camp. that I was at the foot of the mountain as the desires advanced towards the uneven foothills of the mountains, but they lost their cohesion and gaps appeared in their ranks.
Paul reacted immediately, divided his troops and ordered them to advance towards these gaps. Faced with the dense crowd that arose, the Roman legionaries, who were specialized in hand-to-hand combat in close quarters, quickly gained the upper hand, as the Roman cavalry on the right wing also defeated the weaker Macedonian cavalry and then also defeated them. turned towards the infantry, chaos broke out. instead of King Perseus. Many of his men were massacred on the spot. Unlike the Romans, many armies also relied on polearms in the following centuries, but it seems as if they fought more in linear formation, for example in the choice of shield, but let's fast forward to 13th century Scotland, where we find our next object of observation as schilddruhn.
This massed infantry information is first mentioned in reports of the Battle of Vorwerk in 1298, but it is quite possible that they were used much earlier, a shield round could be either. rectangular or circular, the latter being a pre-cork, in the case there the Scots formed four circles and reinforced them with many that they nailed into the ground on all sides, the outer rows then kneeled behind these that were missing while those behind This form of hedgehog In formation, the schilddrund was able to defend itself very well, but was also extremely static, which I found disastrous at Fullkirk after the Scottish cavalry that had fought alongside the schilddruns retreated.
The four circles were almost defenseless against the English archers and slingers. , were shot together and finally invaded by the English cavalry. Unlike circular shields, which were mainly defensively strong, rectangular shields could also attack. There are few descriptions of this formation, but two reports give us a rough idea. idea of ​​what they might have been like and how tightly packed this kundy was, informing us that the men were armed with long, heavy weapons and carried axes as secondary weapons. Johannes von Trockenove adds that they also used other weapons and shields when the men attacked with With the locks spread out like a hedgehog or, as the chronicler says, like a fahrland, this description is very reminiscent of the Greek fahrlands, to the point that some historians They even maintain that the Scots actually imitated Greek training, but this is due to few and incomplete sources and should be viewed with caution.
An example of successful offensive use of the schilddron is the Battle of Bernhard Burn in 13/14. On the second day of the battle, the day the main battle took place, the Scottish schilddruns awaited the English attackers behind the River Benek. The English cavalry attacked and failed to break the formation. After the failed charge, the Scots advanced in turn and the horsemen retreated towards the English infantry who were still in the process of crossing Wardenock, which inevitably led to chaos. Many Englishmen were thrown from their horses and their comrades were trampled to death or drowned in the river.
The Battle of Bernard Burn is considered one of the worst defeats ever suffered by an English army. Similar infantry information was also used elsewhere, for example by the llamas of the Welsh and Portuguese, but the most famous is the Swiss version. Confederates All of these medieval formations had a common purpose: they helped infantry defend themselves against cavalry. . The Swiss perfected this art. The Swiss group of forces is sometimes compared directly to the However, there were some key differences: firstly, the baptism of force was a mixed formation, that is, unlike the Greeks, most of the fighters needed short weapons , such as swords or axes, or short weapons, such as shiny ones.
Only the outer ranks were made up of heavily armed men with pikes. Second, the needs varied in width depending on the terrain and available combatants. The force groups were always almost square. Furthermore, Swiss armies were usually divided into the main vanguard and rear force, allowing for completely different tactical maneuvers: in the 14/20s, the Swiss began to equip a larger proportion of their fighters with long pikes, in Total about a quarter of this force group was made even more. effective against cavalry when a cavalry unit attacked and got on their horses because, as they said then, with the horse the rider is lost, but it was not at all pleasant for infantry formations to attack a wall like that when a group of forces advanced.
The Offensive The mass of men advanced and rolled like a steamroller toward the enemy. After the collision, the pikiniere moved aside and made room for the lighter, more mobile men with short weapons in the middle, who then pounced on the enemy and engaged them. hand-to-hand combat Down there, the force was very effective but not invincible, as was demonstrated, for example, in the battle of Bigoka in 1522, where a Swiss force attacked a fortified position in which Spanish acupuncturists and mercenaries had entrenched themselves against The Swiss. He was even able to launch into hand-to-hand combat. The Spanish riflemen inflicted considerable losses on him.
Only after several desperate attempts did some manage to scale the fortified position, but this was of no use to them because there they encountered the Landsknecht who finished them off. That day the Swiss were almost completely annihilated and had to change their perspective: shortly before 1500, the Landsknecht had copied the Swiss violent groups and improved them considerably. In them, men armed with spikes made up more than 50% of a group that was now stratified, that is, pricking exclusively with melee, the Landsknecht took turns carrying two-handed weapons and short sticks, the Landsknecht wielded their you pike further back than the Swiss to be able to stretch.
They overtook them and the tips of 5 or 6 men who were one behind the other approached the first man and placed many more firearms. Landsknecht expert Reinhard Baumann says that Brunsberg has revealed the signs of the times, recognized the future. They belonged to firearms The first rank of a Landsknecht regiment was generally made up of doubles armed with pikes these men received doubles as their name indicates if they performed. They are usually Vedrans or heavily armed combatants who are at greater risk because, for example, they fought in the so-called Lost Band. The lost band was a small group of men fighting under a blood red flag.
It was made up of volunteer criminals and selected mercenaries and was tasked with breaking enemy lines. From 1522 this task was assumed. The riflemen, operating relatively calmly, attempted to open gaps in the enemy formation and thus give the infantry the opportunity to attack. How effective this was was demonstrated at the Battle of Cheriola, where in 1503 the Landsknecht and around 1,000 Spanish Akupe defeated a force. of 9,000 Swiss pikiniers and French heavy cavalrymen attacked againThe Swiss attacked first but were met by the acebusiers with a ball hook and then defeated by the Landsknecht, Cheriola is considered the first battle that was won with gunpowder and that is how we have both arrived to the time of the orderlies, better known as The era of the pike and the shot The pike and the shot were the answer to a problem of war that had worried strategists and tacticians for a long time.
The Pekinieres alone cooperated a lot with the riflemen, while theRiflemen alone could do little against a cavalry attack. The solution was a symbiosis of both, so that the riflemen fired against the enemy infantry formations and, in the event of an attack, they could go after the pique discovery. This interaction is the basis of Parkinson's war. The Spanish were the first to raise this idea. They created a military Goliath exemplified by Michael Sikora, an expert in early modern history. This Goliath was the tertio created in 1534, a whole era in military history. A terti was made up of 10 companies, 8 of which each consisted of 200 Peking soldiers for 100 days and 20 musketeers, while the remaining two were purely rifle companies, with 3,000 men when the terti was organized for fighting. , around 2,000 hand-to-hand combatants formed the core of the formation. both sides in the so-called garrisons and in four additional squadrons that operated freely, consisting of between 100 and 400 riflemen each, and one gradually converted into pekinieres and riflemen and other hand-to-hand combatants were expelled.
The derfios were smaller and more flexible than the ge4000 of the Swiss and the Landsknecht and therefore allowed for a more sophisticated tactical formation: they were no longer simply divided into vanguards and rearguards, but in a checkerboard pattern of the called Spanish brigade. a single brigade consisted of four tertios a double brigade of 7 or 8 this excellent army structure ensured that the battle was not lost if one unit disintegrated or could not fight, instead they could take refuge under the protection of the others retreat and be replaced For around 100 years the tertio dominated the battlefields of Europe and even beyond remained a force to be reckoned with, but already at the end of the 16th century a new challenger entered the scene on the famous fields of Flanders, where the defio The Spanish faced the reformed army of the Republic of the United Netherlands, who wanted to fight for independence from their Spanish overlord.
At the Battle of Newport in 1600, the Dutch waited for the Spanish in a strong position on a series of dunes. The Spanish advanced slowly against them and after a long and bitter fight they reached the hill, managed to defeat the English regiments in the left wing of the Republic, but then the tide turned a series of royal attacks put the Spanish in trouble and they were soon in disarray and this victory of the Dutch was due, at least in part, to the reforms that Maurice of Orange and his cousins ​​had served in the army of the Republic;
Their objective was precisely to be able to confront the Tertios on equal terms in the search for more flexible tactics. Inspired by Roman manipulative tactics, the reformers hoped to repeat what the Romans had managed to do against the Greeks almost 2,000 years ago: defeat a mass training making your own training more mobile. They deployed their men in so-called battalions: five Peking blocks in the middle and three rifle blocks on either side gave them smaller, more flexible divisions in which only one gun was represented. They also reduced the depth of the formation in favor of a wider front, which increased the firepower in this new formation.
The pekiniere's only job was to protect the riflemen. They formed a wall behind which both riflemen and cavalry could seek refuge. A saying of that time is that the best in the order of battle is what is trusted, the double mercenaries, in this case the Dutch musketeers adapted and refined the so-called countermarch: the first rank fired and then ran behind the formation to reloaded while the second rank advanced and fired to a depth of ten men. The front rank had already reloaded when it arrived again had advanced in this way, a Dutch formation could fire without interruption so that the battalions could fight effectively, but two conditions had been met. to fulfill: firstly, commanders had to be able to handle the most complex structures and, secondly, they had to be trained regularly, every hand movement had to be adapted correctly, even in the heat of battle.
In the end, battles were not common because in the event of defeat there was a risk of heavy losses, which were made even more extreme due to the increased use of firearms, so the Dutch rented the battles as best they could and They focused on sieges. 1600 Dutch military reforms were introduced One of the reformers John the Seventh of Nassau Siegen was brought to Sweden there the Dutch system was further developed by the Swedish king Gustav Adolphus the Midnight Lion via also called the number of riflemen and He allowed his men to exist so long that soon only six remained.
He also created a new formation, the Swedish Brigade, which combined the forces of the Dutch Battalion and the Tertius. The Pekinieres still had the main task of defending the musketeers, but if necessary, they were supposed to advance slowly and switch to hand-to-hand combat. However, the famous German writer Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen wrote about this ironically and I mean that whoever kills a pikaner who can be spared kills an innocent person. I have seen many sheep actions throughout the world. my life, but I rarely realized that a Pekingese would have killed the Swedish army in several battles, especially at Breitenfeld in 1631 and Lützen in 1632, which had further refined the war.
The larger formations of the Dutch under the command of the Swedes are considered the first harbingers of the more linear formations of the 18th century in which the spit was replaced by the bayonet in which the bayonet assumed the defensive function of the pike in the battlefield. The time of pike and shot is over and with that this video ends. Thanks for watching and your support. If you want to contribute a little more, you can find several ways to do so in the pinned comment.

If you have any copyright issue, please Contact