Hello everyone, today, I will talk about the most extraordinary psychological war tactic that has been used on a battlefield. 

Imagine you are the king of the tiny army unit (in the red line).

You have to defeat the gargantuan army outside the red line (enemy).

Is the larger enemy army efficient? - It is the strongest army of the entire ancient world - The Persians.

OK. So, no chance right? But did I just tell you who the king of the smaller army was - Alexander, the great. Still no chance? Let’s see.

The Battle of Gaugamela

This wasn’t just any battle, this was to change the future forever. If you and I exist in the way we do, it is because of this one battle.

It was Alexander the great vs Darius, the king of Persia - Alexander’s biggest battle ever.Besides,Darius was using elephants too -creatures Alexander’s men had never seen before.

The Tactic

As soon as the war started, Alexander did the craziest thing ever. He, along with a small section of his army started galloping on their horses to the extreme right of the battlefield. His remaining army stayed where it was.

This move puzzled Darius. He ordered a large chunk of his army to chase Alexander, while his remaining army attacked that part of Alexander’s army that hadn’t fled. Darius remained where he was with a small unit .

This is exactly what Alexander wanted. He kept galloping away, with the enemy chasing him. All of a sudden, he turned his horse and started galloping straight towards Darius. His men followed.

You see what he did?

He removed one part of Darius’ army by making them chase him. The other part was busy fighting with his army unit that hadn’t fled with him. And just when the enemy chasing him got close, he turned his direction and ran towards Darius, with the chasing enemy behind him.

Darius stood there, with a not-very-large army unit. He couldn’t believe what just unfolded before his eyes.

Alexander was galloping towards him, like a maniac. Darius did the most sensible thing - he fled.

And thus ended the Battle of Gaugamela. It wasn’t as smooth as you would imagine, it was brutal, but the mere fact that 60,000 Persian soldiers were killed while only 900 of Alexander’s men died, is hair-raising.

Weak spot of the tactic

This tactic had one serious weak spot. What if Darius had NOT sent his army unit to chase down the fleeing Alexander and had retained them near him?

That would be the end of Alexander. But Alexander was aware of this. He just HAD to take the gamble.

Alexander’s conquests left no community, no tribe untouched. He influenced every culture. Had he lost this war, the world wouldn’t be the way it is today.