Darius had a much larger army and so Alexander couldn’t afford to fight on the defensive, he had to go for the kill and hit the enemy.
The Macedonian Phalanx was a meat grinder, it only worked so long as it had momentum, so it hard to march forward, the Sarissa’s whittling down the enemy front. The staggered line allowed Alexander to provide only a short attack for Darius, helping to preventing a flank attack. It, however left the right flank vulnerable which is why Alexander had to move out to the right to draw out Bessus, pin him and snap back to attack Darius which would cause either the death of Darius or Darius to leave the field, leaving the Persian’s incapacitated. A cavalry charge is a frightening thing and not many people can stand against it, in Alexander’s basic ‘Hammer and Anvil’ the Phalanx would push the enemy back and Alexander would push them back onto the phalanx, trapping the enemy infantry. Evident at 3 of this 4 set piece battles. It was a brilliant plan but one that had to be executed to perfection and for that, the great quality of the troops and able captains deserve credit.
The Macedonian Phalanx was a meat grinder, it only worked so long as it had momentum, so it hard to march forward, the Sarissa’s whittling down the enemy front. The staggered line allowed Alexander to provide only a short attack for Darius, helping to preventing a flank attack. It, however left the right flank vulnerable which is why Alexander had to move out to the right to draw out Bessus, pin him and snap back to attack Darius which would cause either the death of Darius or Darius to leave the field, leaving the Persian’s incapacitated. A cavalry charge is a frightening thing and not many people can stand against it, in Alexander’s basic ‘Hammer and Anvil’ the Phalanx would push the enemy back and Alexander would push them back onto the phalanx, trapping the enemy infantry. Evident at 3 of this 4 set piece battles. It was a brilliant plan but one that had to be executed to perfection and for that, the great quality of the troops and able captains deserve credit.
