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The Persians have a powerful fleet and control the sea, but for unknown reasons, the Persians did not use their advantage. They neither used the fleet to prevent Alexander from crossing the Hellespong Strait, nor were they able to prevent Alexander from occupying the coastal cities of Asia Minor. The Persians did not even think about using this powerful fleet to disrupt the rear of Macedonia and incite the anti-Macedonian forces in Greece.
(Alexander the Great)
When Alexander occupied Miletus, the Persian navy wanted to start a naval battle against Alexander's arrogance. Some of Alexander's generals, especially Pamino, were inspired by the victory on the ground, and wanted to defeat the Persians at sea. Parminio persuaded Alexander to launch an attack on the Persian fleet outside the port of Miletus, because an eagle landed on the shore of Alexander’s stern. Parminio interpreted this as a harbinger of a naval battle. At the same time, he believed that if he was defeated , Has great benefits to the entire expedition, if defeated, the impact will not be too great, because the Persian navy originally controlled the sea. He is willing to personally lead the fleet to fight to the death with enemy ships. Alexander believes that Paminio’s judgment is wrong. He pointed out that a small fleet of 160 warships should be used to touch a large fleet of 400 warships, and the lack of training sailors should be used against the well-trained Cyprus. The navy formed with Phoenician sailors is crazy. Without certainty, he could not take the Macedonian martial arts and courage to risk. If defeated, it will cause great damage and trigger riots among the Greeks. He also pointed out that the eagle landed on land, which meant that he would defeat the Persian navy on land.
(Maritime safety once disturbed Alexander who was inland)
Alexander's analysis was correct, which proved that Alexander's situational judgment and command ability were higher than his deputy. He exploited his strengths and circumvented his weaknesses to give play to the army's advantages. He believed that as long as the Persian naval bases along the coast were occupied, it would be equivalent to destroying their fleet. This was his plan to conquer the Persian fleet from land. He did not allow the navy to go to war, and ordered the tight guard of Miletus port, preventing the Persian navy from landing and cutting off the Persian navy's fresh water supply. The Persian navy had nothing to do except cruising on the sea, so he had to leave Miletus.
(At the beginning of the war, Macedonia relied on Greek allies to maintain the size of the navy)
In the summer of 334 BC, Alexander simply disbanded his navy. In this regard, considering that the Greek fleet could not be defeated at all, it was superior in quantity and quality. At the same time, he was worried that the Greek Navy would rebel in the event of defeat; on the other hand, financial difficulties, he did not have the financial resources to maintain this fleet. After disbanding the navy, he added the troops extracted from the navy to the army, and led the army to advance to Carria, south of Miletus, to capture the last Persian naval base-Khalika, the capital of Carria. Nasus.
Halicarnassus is the main naval base of the Persian Empire on the passage from Asia Minor to the southern Aegean Sea, and its strategic position is very important. The terrain of the city is difficult, the walls are strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack. There is a 45-foot-wide and 22-foot-deep moat outside the city. On its land-facing side, there are three acropolises, including the fortress of Salmethis on the coast of the northwest corner and the "King's Bastion" on the small island near the sea in the southwest. . A large number of Persian troops and mercenaries were concentrated here, and warships were stationed at the port. The commander who defended the city was Meinon, the mercenary leader who had escaped from the battlefield of the Granicus River. He had long been appointed by Darius as the governor of Lower Asia and the commander-in-chief of the navy. Meinong has made all preparations. He is not only to defend the city, but his purpose is to cooperate with Darius and put Alexander in a situation where he is confronted on both sides.
(Halikanassus City)
In the autumn of 334 BC, Alexander came under the city of Harikanassus and set up camp facing the city. Alexander knew that the city could not be captured in one or two days, but he could not stay here for a long time because of the danger of being attacked back and forth. Therefore, he must do everything possible to seize this strategic stronghold as soon as possible.
The offensive and defensive battle of Harikanassus City is extremely fierceof. Alexander was frustrated several times here. He first ordered the troops to fill in the moat, and then erected the siege tower. But the Persian defenders carried out a sneak attack by night. Although the awakened Macedonian troops rushed back, the siege towers that had been erected with difficulty were burned down. In this way, Alexander tried every means to attack the city, while Meinong tried every means to defend the city. During the siege, the siege tower and the torsion stone crossbow played a huge role. Numerous large stones passed from the tower, and they were extremely powerful. Meinong also erected a wooden tower, shooting arrows and throwing arrows at the siege tower from the wooden tower. Torch, trying to burn the siege tower. After many days of repeated fighting and attacking, both sides suffered heavy casualties. Alexander's army not only killed 40 or 50 people, but also sacrificed several famous officers. The Persian side suffered even greater losses, with nearly a thousand deaths and even more injured. One part of the city wall has collapsed, and the other part has been battered.
(The failure of the Persian Army in Issus also consumed naval forces)
Harikanassus has no danger to defend and has no strength to defend. Under this situation, Meinon and Persian general Ou Rong Tobatis met and decided to abandon the city and withdraw part of the troops to the fortress on the island and part to the high ground called Samakis. While they were evacuating, on about two more days that night, the wooden tower used to deal with the siege tower and some armory were set on fire. The houses near the city wall were also burned. Due to the fierce fire and wind, other houses were also burned. Finished. Seeing the fierce fire in the city, Alexander immediately ordered the troops to enter the city to fight the fire and arrest the arsonists. No matter who they were, he would execute them on the spot. He also ordered soldiers to rescue the people trapped in the house.
At dawn, Alexander discovered that the city had no preservation value, so he ordered his subordinates to razing the city to the ground, leaving some troops to garrison the dilapidated city and the Karia area. Considering the dangerous terrain of the fortresses and fortresses where Persian troops and mercenaries retreated, and the siege would take a lot of time, he decided to temporarily abandon the siege. This decision is wise. These two fortresses were not finally captured by the Macedonians until the autumn of the first 333 years later, after many hard fights. References: "History of the Persian Empire", "The Persian War", "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers", "Alexander the Great"
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