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Who is your favorite general ?

Hands down my favorite of WWII. A brilliant tactician and tank warfare strategist, what he was able to accomplish during the El Alamein battles, as well as Alam El Halfa, is legendary. Around 80% of the water and ammunition re-supply efforts were destroyed. The allies were unloading wave after wave of tanks and infantry, while he received almost nothing towards the end.

I know my Grandpa served in the British Indian Army before the Partition of British India & the creation of Pakistan & India; he was posted somewhere in the Middle East at that time & he would often tell that we'd hear about the exploits of Rommel and his Afrika Corp every now & then !
 
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Miyamotono Yoshitsune

was a tragic and mysterious hero in Japan. He is still popular today, even though he has been dead for over 800 years. He was a general of the imperial Taira clan and was very talented and charismatic. However, certain people tried to get rid of Yoshitsune during his life, so in the end, he could not help but commit suicide. His dramatic, yet tragic life makes many people sympathetic and imaginative. His biography, the Gikeiki, said he would create lots of legends throughout Kyoto. Indeed, the Kyoto region provides many historic sites of Yoshitsune, where you can learn more about his life and legend.


One thing tho, Hitler wasn't a General.

so even though his name his minamoto, you are saying he is Taira? But of course we could be thinking of different people, is he the brother of the first Kamakura Shogun, Yoritomo?

But was he a great general? Kyomori was already dead, his sons were dead, well useful ones, all you can say is he beat the skeleton of the Taira clan. He was probably a good warrior, but general? I like to give to people who actually, you know, had military accomplishments of distinction.

Now Toyotomi Hideoshi was a good general. He was known for his swift action, and military genius. Oda Nobunaga used guns effectively and devastatingly. Tokugawa Leyasu was a patient, yet brilliant general. Especially Sekigahara and hiring on Kobayakawa, that was brilliant, only he could do that.


Oh favorite, cool, didn't see that.
 
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What's your opinion on Montgomery vs Patton?

I think Patton's achievements and skills were embellished some here in the US (which is natural), but down-played by his fellow Allied commanders due to his stereotypically American personality. Apparently he was not very respected by his Allied peers, but very much so by German counterparts. He drew comparisons to Rommel, who is quoted as saying that Patton "the most astonishing feat in mobile warfare" or something along those lines, to paraphrase.

Monty I am not familiar enough with to make a comment on, so I wont talk out of my rear. I've been meaning to do some more in-depth reading on non-American Allied tactics.
 
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so even though his name his minamoto, you are saying he is Taira? But of course we could be thinking of different people, is he the brother of the first Kamakura Shogun, Yoritomo?

But was he a great general? Kyomori was already dead, his sons were dead, well useful ones, all you can say is he beat the skeleton of the Taira clan. He was probably a good warrior, but general? I like to give to people who actually, you know, had military accomplishments of distinction.

Now Toyotomi Hideoshi was a good general. He was known for his swift action, and military genius. Oda Nobunaga used guns effectively and devastatingly. Tokugawa Leyasu was a patient, yet brilliant general. Especially Sekigahara and hiring on Kobayakawa, that was brilliant, only he could do that.


Oh favorite, cool, didn't see that.

IMHO, Hideyoshi is overrated.
 
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Alparslan who crushed Byzantine army in Manzikert in 1071AD.

Why? I like crushing the heads of kuffars. :D
 
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I think u misunderstood me, i said without Hitler there would be no India or Pakistan
hmm...
I don't know about pakistan but india was always there from last 10000 years...:P

yes achieving independence would have been a tough nut to crack and and gandhi ashimsa and non-violence would be of no use then.....
 
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Subutai has him beat hands down. :P
While Napolean was a great general for a long time , the world adjusted itself to Napoleon and his tactics or methods of war in the latter part of his career outdated or conventional leading to his defeat.

Subutai was basically a master of his craft , he continued to renew his tactics , his spy tactics info gathering , clever deceptions etc made him a fearful general.
What i believe makes him better then others were his continual evolution of war tactics , his methods were continually evolving throughout his long span of military career (where many like Napolean and perhaps others like hannibal failed)

Subutai had the most powerful war machine of the middle ages at his disposal...he had an assymtric advntage over his enemies in this way due to the mongol organization-horseracher/lancer combo.Napoleon mostly fought with troops that were same as everyone else.
Also subutai prospered in the middle ages..there was little to no mutual communication or co-operation between his enemies..so they never could unite against the mongols in huge continent wide coalitions like the europeans did against napoleon.

Thirdly no his tactics were not outdated ..he just ran out of men,main losses being in spanish guerilla warfare and russian winter.You say that the world adjusted to his tactics..true,but thats because napoleon lived in an age where u couldn't just massacre the enemy country wholesale like the mongols did.Against the mongols and subotai their enmies never got teh chance to adapt as they were mostly wiped out wholesale after defeats.Something napoleon couldn't do in civilized europe in the 19th century..so even after defeat after defeat they had time to recover.

So these points must be kept in mind as well.No doubt subutai was a legendary general..top 5 of all time for sure..but i'm still going with nappy.
My thoughts.:)

I've always been rather fond of Field Marshal Ervin Rommel - Perhaps the greatest cavalry commander of contemporary times !

As an overall general,Brilliant tactician,but not as good a strategist.No,he didn't understand logistics and took many unnecessary risks.Best german general would be manstein or model.

But as greatest cavalry commander of modern times..yeah he has serious claim to that.His competition would be guderian and patton.

so even though his name his minamoto, you are saying he is Taira? But of course we could be thinking of different people, is he the brother of the first Kamakura Shogun, Yoritomo?

But was he a great general? Kyomori was already dead, his sons were dead, well useful ones, all you can say is he beat the skeleton of the Taira clan. He was probably a good warrior, but general? I like to give to people who actually, you know, had military accomplishments of distinction.

Now Toyotomi Hideoshi was a good general. He was known for his swift action, and military genius. Oda Nobunaga used guns effectively and devastatingly. Tokugawa Leyasu was a patient, yet brilliant general. Especially Sekigahara and hiring on Kobayakawa, that was brilliant, only he could do that.


Oh favorite, cool, didn't see that.

Uesugi kenshin i thought was the best of the sengoku era.He drubbed both tokugawa leyasu and handed nobunaga his only defeat.He also faced against takeda shingen 5 times with ultimately inconclusive results.
Hideyoshi,nobunaga,shingen would come second.

Leyasu was a cautious general,better politician than commander.
 
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My top 7 generals of all time would be -

Napoleon,Genghis/subotai(unsure who was more responsible due to lack of sources),caesar,alexander,hannibal,khalid and tamerlane.
With honorary mentions -belisarius,frederick,moltke and scipio.

This is pre 21st century list and i feel they can't be compared to modern warfare generals with their general staffs and industrial warfare.

Difficult say who's the greatest of the 21st century But some top contenders for me
Germany - Manstein,Model,Rommel,Guderian,Ludendorff
USA - Patton
USSR - Zhukov,Vatutin,Rokossovsky

Giap,Wavell and montgomery others.

I see rommel is very popular here...i will give u guys a call when i do the WW2 north african campaign battle reports.

Sry forgot suvorov.
 
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Alexander_the_Great.jpg

One & only.. Alexander the great! A soldier at the age of 14, commander at the age of 16. General at the age of 18, king at the age of 20.. conquered almost all the then known world by the age of 30! Match that...
 
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